Soriana to exclude 14 stores from Comercial Mexicana acquisition

Mexican supermarket chain Soriana said on Wednesday it would exclude 14 stores from its acquisition of rival Comercial Mexicana's operations after the competition regulator objected to the sale.

Mexico's Federal Competition Commission, Cofece, approved the transaction earlier this month, after saying Soriana's acquisition would reduce competition and raise prices for consumers. The move followed Comercial Mexicana's decision to sell most of its stores to Soriana in January.

The scaled-down acquisition is valued at 39.2 billion pesos ($2.36 billion) and covers 143 stores, the companies said in a statement.