By Paul Ziobro and Michael Calia 

Patience is wearing thin in the drawn-out battle for Family Dollar Stores Inc.

The chief executive of Dollar Tree Inc., Bob Sasser, warned his counterpart at Family Dollar that he won't accept any further delays of a shareholder vote on the companies' $8.5 billion deal. A vote on the acquisition, which has been approved by Family Dollar's board, has been delayed twice as the discount chain's shareholders consider the prospect of a better offer in light of a rival takeover approach from Dollar General Corp.

"Dollar Tree is not willing to agree to any further adjournments of the shareholder meeting," Mr. Sasser wrote in a letter dated Jan. 9 to Family Dollar CEO Howard Levine. "After two delays, we have been more than reasonable but have reached the end of our patience."

Pushing the vote beyond its scheduled Jan. 22 date not only adds uncertainty, but also raises Dollar Tree's borrowing costs, Mr. Sasser wrote. The CEO didn't go as far as saying he would rescind the offer without a Jan. 22 vote. But the stern letter ratchets up the pressure on Dollar General to sweeten its offer, either by raising the limit on the number of stores it would agree to sell or increasing its offer.

Shares of all three companies were lower Monday amid a broad decline in stocks. Dollar General didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.

What looked to be a straightforward retail industry merger turned into a bitter, three-way fight last summer when Dollar General jumped in with an unsolicited takeover proposed now valued at $9.1 billion.

Family Dollar has rejected Dollar General's overtures, arguing that the Federal Trade Commission would require far more stores to be divested in a tie-up than the 1,500 Dollar General has offered to sell. On Monday, it said there could be as many as 4,000 "presumptively problematic" stores in such a deal and urged shareholders to vote in favor of the lower offer, saying it is more likely to close.

Dollar Tree said that it expects it will have to divest itself of fewer than 300 stores to appease antitrust regulators.

Mr. Levine, in a letter to shareholders, said feedback from the FTC "reaffirms the statements that we have been making for several months now about the inability of the Dollar General proposal to be consummated on the terms proposed by Dollar General and the certainty of the Dollar Tree merger."

Dollar Tree added that it has identified potential buyers for stores that would have to be divested and that it expects to present a list to the FTC for approval within a month. Family Dollar said the merger with Dollar Tree could close as soon as March.

Family Dollar argues that losing the Dollar Tree offer would leave the company without a merger partner and in a dire situation. Family Dollar's performance has been flailing, and Mr. Levine last week acknowledged the company has lost some key executives in recent months because of the uncertainty.

The renewed tussle over the deal comes after Family Dollar shareholders voted by a margin of 72 million shares to 15 million shares in late December to delay a decision on the Dollar Tree deal and give Dollar General more time to time to try to convince Family Dollar to accept its all-cash offer.

Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com and Michael Calia at michael.calia@wsj.com

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