Nova Scotia-based Sobeys Inc. has bought Saanich-based Thrifty Foods in a deal worth an estimated $260 million.
The acquisition will give Sobeys a foothold in the B.C. market with Thrifty's chain of 20 supermarkets, its main distribution centre and its wholesale divisions on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland.
The deal is expected to close near the end of the year, during Sobeys' second quarter.
Founded in 1977, Thrifty Foods has become one of B.C.'s largest companies. It's 2006 revenue was $552 million, a 5% increase over 2005's $523 million.
The company, with most of its stores on Vancouver Island, had begun expanding into the Lower Mainland. The 2001 opening of its Tsawwassen store was followed in 2005 with a Thrifty Foods in Port Moody and in 2006 with an outlet in Coquitlam. It was expected to open a second Port Moody store later this year.
Thrifty's staff has increased more than 3% in the past year to 3,720 from 3,600 in 2006.
Sobeys, whose parent is Empire Company Ltd. (TSX:EMP), is one of Canada's largest grocery food chains. It has more than 1,300 stores in 10 provinces under the Sobeys, IGA, Foodland and Price Chopper banners.