A Safeway grocery store in Saskatoon is one of 22 stores across Western Canada that must be sold as part of a deal that will see grocery retailer Sobeys buy Canada Safeway.
Two stores in Saskatchewan, the Safeway location at Circle Drive and Eighth Street along with one in Regina, must be sold to meet conditions laid out by the federal Competition Bureau’s approval of the $5.8-billion deal
A spokesperson for Sobeys told CTV News that "the store must be sold as a viable operating grocery store,” which means it cannot be sold to a company who wants to shut it down.
The buyer must also adhere to the collective agreement in place with the unionized workers.
Sobeys would not confirm a timeline for when the sale of the store must be complete.
Sobeys, which is owned by Empire Co. Ltd., purchased 213 stores under the initial agreement, which included 199 in-store pharmacies and 62 gas stations on the Safeway properties. The retailer will still come away with a gain of 190 locations overall from the Safeway acquisition.
The sale agreement is expected to close in early November.
- with Canadian Press files
