News Summary: Safeway selling Canadian stores

BIG DEAL: Safeway Inc. said late Wednesday that it was selling its Canadian supermarket operations to Sobeys for about $5.7 billion.

THE BUYER: Sobeys, a unit of Empire Company Limited, is the No. 2 grocery store operator in Canada. It said the deal includes 213 grocery stores, 62 fuel stations, 10 liquor stores, 12 manufacturing facilities and four distribution centers.

WHAT'S LEFT: Safeway, based in Pleasanton, Calif., will have about 1,400 stores in the U.S. after the deal, many of which are concentrated in western states.