Under the terms of the agreement struck on March 11, Dollar General shareholders will receive $22 per share in cash. Dollar General's common stock will cease trading on the NYSE prior to the opening of trading on Monday, July 9. By mid-day on Friday, July 6, shares were trading at $21.99 a share, up two cents from the previous 52-week high hit the day before.

At the time of the March announcement, the purchase price represented a significant premium for DG shares, which were trading in the mid-teens. The 52-week low of $12.10 a share occurred on Aug. 30, 2006. The purchase price includes the assumption of about $380 million in debt.

This deal represents a continuation of a trend among private equity firms to buy large retailers and take them private. KKR has been a key player in this trend. It is among the entities that paid $8.6 billion for the Toys 'R Us chain in 2005 and has also invested in the Fred Meyer discount department store chain and Regal Cinemas.

In announcing the close of this transaction, Dollar General also announced the completion of Buck Acquisition Corp.'s tender offer and consent solicitation for Dollar General's outstanding principal amount of 8.58% notes due June 15, 2010, which were valued at an aggregate of $200 million on July 2. The Tennessee-based Buck was merged with and into Dollar General prior to the KKR deal.

Its tender offer expired at the end of the day, Thursday, July 5, and approximately 99% of the notes were accepted for payment. Buck is indirectly controlled by investment funds affiliated with KKR.

Dollar General operates approximately 8,260 stores. At the quarter ended Nov. 3, 2006, it reported a same-store sales increase of 2% on total sales slightly exceeding $2.2 billion. During a November conference call, the company said it would slow expansion from 600 new stores in 2006 to 300 this year and 400 in 2008.