A few weeks ago we warned that a Dollar Store War was nigh. Well, the time has come to ready your crisp ones because Dollar General is flashing some serious cash in an attempt to pull Family Dollar out from under current suitor Dollar Tree.

Dollar General announced on Monday a bid to purchase Family Dollar for what seems to be an outlandish price – considering singles come to mind when talking about dollar stores – of $8.95billion, Forbes reports.

In late July, Virginia-based Dollar Tree announced it would pay $8.5 billion for Family Dollar to create a company with more than 13,00 stores and annual revenues of $18 billion, making it larger than current leader – you guessed it – Dollar General.

Not one to sit on the sidelines, Dollar General responded to this news by meeting with advisors to “evaluate its options” for making an offer for North Carolina-based Family Dollar.

According to Forbes, a combined Dollar General and Family Dollar company would include 20,000 stores in 46 states with annual revenue of $28 billion.

While some people say money can’t buy you everything – even though $9.7 billion could by a lot of things at the dollar store – officials at Dollar General are backing their offer with truck loads of flattery, and maybe a little guilt-trip, for Family Dollar.

“As you know, we at Dollar General admire your company and its attractive footprint and business prospects. We have respect for Family Dollar, its employees and its leadership, and both Dollar General and Family Dollar share a commitment to serving customers in the communities in which we operate. As such, we were surprised and disappointed to find out you had entered into a merger agreement with Dollar Tree,” Dollar General CEO Rick Dreiling wrote to Family Dollar chairman of the board Howard Levine.

Dollar General Offers $9.7 Billion For Family Dollar, Outbidding Dollar Tree [Forbes]

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