CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Dollar Tree Inc. has announced plans to sell about 330 Family Dollar stores in an effort to obtain Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approval of its pending $8.5 billion acquisition of Family Dollar Stores, which the company expects to complete this July.

Dollar Tree has not identified the buyer, the sale amount or which stores will be closed. The 330 Family Dollar stores in question represent about $45.5 million in operating income, according to Dollar Tree.

The store sales were announced as part of Dollar Tree’s first quarter fiscal 2015 earnings report, in which the retailer reported net income falling 50% to $69.5 million from $138.3 million a year earlier. Acquisition-related costs associated with the pending merger with Family Dollar and higher payroll costs drove the reduction in net income. At the same time, the retailer’s same-store sales rose 3.4%.

“Customers are shopping with us more often and they are buying more on each visit,” said Bob Sasser, CEO, in his report. “Our performance continues to validate that Dollar Tree is part of the solution for millions of customers seeking great values for their hard-earned dollars.”

Even after the sale of the stores, the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar merger would create the largest dollar store company in the country, with more than 13,000 stores. Dollar Tree, based in Chesapeake, Virginia, currently operates 5,450 stores and Family Dollar, based in Matthews, North Carolina, has more than 8,000 stores. The combined operation would generate nearly 19 billion in annual sales.