In a statement of letters sent by the company yesterday, the chief executive officer of Family Dollar Stores (NYSE:FDO), Howard Levine, stated that he rejected multiple offers and requests to pursue a merger between Family Dollar Stores and Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG) because he did not want to give up his position as CEO.

Just a few days ago, the chief executive officer of Dollar General, Rick Dreiling, offered to purchase Family Dollar for $9 billion in cash. Currently, Dollar General leads the race in market share in the United States, while Family Dollar holds its position at a close second.

This attempted merger was an effort to push out the smaller competing corporations, including Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR) who signed a deal to buyout Family Dollar about three weeks before Dollar General made its deal. Family Dollar’s management board stated earlier this week that it would look over and discuss the offer made by Dollar General, which valued the company’s shares at $78.50 per share. However, it seems that it isn’t likely for a deal to happen between the two companies because Family Dollar continued to recommend investors and shareholders to vote for its deal that valued its shares at $74.50 per share with Dollar Tree.

Neither Family Dollar nor Dollar Tree responded to requests for comments.

Mr. Dreiling from Dollar General expressed his surprise over Dollar Tree’s offer for Family Dollar in July, but he has put those events behind him. Dreiling stated that he wished to get the deal with Family Dollar done as soon as possible.

Dreiling also stated that when he met with Mr. Levine from Family Dollar to discuss about the potential merger, Mr. Levine did not mention to him that he was in talks with Dollar Tree about a possible deal then. Dreiling stated that Levine failed to make it known that there was any urgency to act or that the company had other offers on the table.

Dreiling also said that Dollar General has shown its interest in a merger with Family Dollar on multiple occasions, in which Levine reciprocated the enthusiasm and showed his own interest in the social issues of a merger, including his desire to be chief executive officer of the combined companies. Dreiling states that he is wondering if Dollar General does not meet those desires, would Levine pursue a deal with Dollar Tree instead.

A few days ago, Carl Icahn published a criticism piece of Family Dollar’s Levine. Icahn was the activist investor who campaigned publicly and strongly encouraged Family Dollar to put itself up on the market for sale.s

Icahn sold his stake in Family Dollar after Dollar Tree announced its bid for Family Dollar. However, the billionaire investor still commented on the internal logistics behind Family Dollar’s negotiating moves. He said that Family Dollar will likely embrace the deal with Dollar Tree because that would allow the chief executive officer Mr. Levine to retain his current position.

Mr. Icahn said that it was surprising that Family Dollar is willing to agree to a $305 million breakup fee to Dollar Tree before making sure that Dollar General was out of the game. He expressed his distaste for how far executive boards will go to protect the company’s chief executive officer at the expense of shareholders.

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