Closing stores, he said, doesn’t restore competition. “And that’s the main issue that the FTC is looking at,” Anziska said.

“Typically in a divestiture, the FTC will want a single purchaser that is viable, economically strong and has plans to put in place to keep competition. They want someone with similar kind of heft to be in the region,” he said.

Christopher Brand, a spokesman for Ahold USA, which runs the Martin’s and other supermarket chains in the U.S., said it is too early to speculate on store divestitures or the outcome of the FTC review process.

“We prefer not to comment on pending regulatory matters or on market speculation,” Brand said. “The merger remains on track for completion in mid-2016. We do not anticipate any store closures as part of the FTC merger approval process.”

Federal regulators, Anziska said, also frown on selling stores in a market to a variety of different operators. “The FTC prefers having a strong purchaser rather than having a piecemeal sale process,” he said.

Selling to a single operator doesn’t mean that the new chain couldn’t close some stores in the future as part of normal business practices.