Cerberus Capital Management's $9 billion-plus deal to buy grocery giant Safeway is a tie-up that should be a win for the consumer. If approved, the deal announced Thursday would produce a formidable foe within the grocery space once Cerberus joins its Albertsons chain with Safeway. The resulting grocery behemoth of more than 2,400 stores would be nearly as big as rival Kroger's 2,640 supermarkets and multidepartment stores. Still, some analysts noted that the offer price was lower than expected. In a report Friday, Jefferies analysts wrote that the $40 offer price was below the $45 to $50 that many had hoped for. ( Read more : More M&A activity to come: Scaramucci ) Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a report that the offer price seemed "too low," citing the stock's slump following the close Thursday.