Hannaford purchases Victory chain

SCARBOROUGH – Hannaford Bros. Co. said Monday that federal regulatory approval has completed the supermarket chain’s $175 million purchase of Victory Super Markets, which has stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The purchase became final Friday with the Federal Trade Commission’s approval. It brings Victory’s 17 stores in central and southeastern Massachusetts and two in southern New Hampshire under Hannaford’s corporate umbrella.

Hannaford said it will begin converting the stores to the Hannaford name in February and expects to have new signs on all of them by late August.

“We welcome the Victory associates to our team and look forward to serving our new customers,” said Hannaford President Ronald Hodge.

Arthur “Jay” DiGeronimo, Victory’s president, said when the sale was announced in September that Hannaford made an offer he couldn’t refuse. Negotiations began last February.

With the acquisition of the 81-year-old family-owned Victory chain, Hannaford will operate 142 stores in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. It also has plans to open stores in Taunton and Easton, Mass.

Victory retail employees are not going to lose their jobs because of the purchase, officials for both companies said.

Victory’s corporate headquarters in Leominster, Mass., will close. The 40 employees there will lose their jobs, but Hannaford invited them to apply for open positions at its stores or corporate offices.

Based in Scarborough, Hannaford is owned by the Delhaize Group of Brussels, Belgium, and has 24,000 employees.