Courtesy of Benzinga.
Dollar General (NYSE: DG) may seek to top the recent $8.5 billion offer on Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) from Dollar Tree (NYSE: DLTR), according to a report Tuesday.
The possible bidding skirmish, reported by Bloomberg, comes about a week after the boards of both Family Dollar and Dollar Tree approved the $74.50 per share merger plan.
Dollar General has hired an adviser to evaluate a possible counter bid which could be paid for with bank financing, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg, who put the chances of a new offer at 50 percent.
Analysts have suggested that a merger of Family Dollar and Dollar Tree would put Dollar General at risk of an unwanted takeover.
Other potential counter-bids for Family Dollar are seen as at least feasible coming from Wal-Mart Stores and Target, although neither have expressed interest.
Dollar General changed hands recently up 3.02 percent at $57.60; Family Dollar was up 2.4 percent at $77.54; Dollar Tree was down 2.1 percent to $54.75.
