Pleasanton-headquartered Safeway, Inc.s board of directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share, payable on Jan. 2 to stockholders of record at the close of business on Dec. 26. Safeway, a Fortune 100 company and one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America based on sales, is on the verge of completing its $9.4 billion merger with its rival Cerberus Capital Management LP's Albertsons, possibly during the current quarter. A recent report in The Wall Street Journal said deal between the supermarket giants, yet to be approved by the Federal Trade Commission, comes as traditional grocery stores come under tougher competition from retailers such as WalMart and online marketplaces such as Amazon.com.