Carl Icahn Takes Home $159 Million On Family Dollar & Dollar Tree Merger

The much anticipated merger between Family Dollar FDO and Dollar Tree DLTR was announced Monday morning.

Dollar Tree is to acquire shares of Family Dollar with cash ($59.60) and stock ($14.90) for $74.50 per share, a 22.8 percent premium to Family Dollar’s Friday closing price. The transactions values Family Dollar at $9.2 billion.

Carl Icahn, who pushed for a merger of the companies, earns $158.7 million dollars on the transaction. Since showing his stake on June 6 in a 13D filing, Family Dollar shares have appreciated 25.6 percent.

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Dollar Tree CEO Bob Sasser will serve as CEO of the combined companies that will operate 13,000 stores with annual revenue greater than $18 billion. Sasser stated, “Combined, our growth potential is enhanced with improved opportunities to increase the productivity of the stores and to open more stores across multiple banners.”

The deal is expected to save more than $300 million per year in synergies, primarily in sourcing, SG&A and logistics.

Shares of Family Dollar were last trading 24 percent higher at $74.26, $0.24 off the transaction price. Dollar Tree share are also strong, rising 6.6 percent to $57.80