SALISBURY, NC – Food Lion, Inc. (Nasdaq: FDLNA, FDLNB) announced today it will offer a program through which shareholders with fewer than 100 shares of the Company’s stock may purchase additional shares to reach 100 or sell their current shares. Letters explaining the program were sent today to eligible shareholders holding fewer than 100 shares of Class A or Class B common stock of the Company.
“We value all of our shareholders and realize that the inconvenience and cost of brokerage commissions may have prevented individual shareholders from purchasing or selling less than 100 shares of stock,” said Tom Smith, Food Lion President and Chief Executive Officer. “This program will provide our smaller shareholders with an opportunity to buy or sell their shares conveniently, by mail, at a reasonable cost.”
Processing fees for shareholders who wish to purchase additional shares or sell shares are $.50 per share, with a maximum charge of $25 per account. The processing fees are significantly less than the average transaction fee of $50 that shareholders might otherwise pay to a brokerage firm for sales of small amounts of stock.
The small shareholder buy-sell program begins October 1 and runs through November 6, 1998. It is completely voluntary. The program is being administered by Shareholder Communications Corporation and First Chicago Trust Company. Interested shareholders may call Shareholder Communications at 1-800-733-1665 for more information.
With 1997 sales of $10.2 billion, Food Lion is one of the nation’s largest supermarket chains. The Company and its more than 80,000 employees serve approximately 10 million customers per week at 1,094 Food Lion stores in 11 states and 91 Kash n’ Karry supermarkets in West Central Florida.
Contact: Chris Ahearn (704) 633-8250, Ext. 2892