The proposed $24.6 billion merger between supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons floundered on Tuesday after judges overseeing two separate cases both halted the deal
The proposed merger between supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons floundered on Tuesday after judges overseeing two separate cases both halted the deal.
U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the merger Tuesday after holding a three-week hearing in Portland, Oregon.
Later Tuesday, Judge Marshall Ferguson in Seattle issued a permanent injunction barring the merger in Washington after concluding it would lessen competition in the state and violate Washington's consumer-protection laws.
Kroger and Albertsons said Tuesday they are disappointed in the decisions and are reviewing their options. The companies could appeal, although the deal could fall apart in the time it would take for those cases to be considered.
“For the parties, the road gets steeper from here, just given the costs of keeping a deal together and the significant doubts about its viability given today’s opinion," said Jeffrey Oliver, a partner specializing in antitrust law at the law firm Baker Botts.
Kroger and Albertsons in 2022 proposed what would be the largest grocery store merger in U.S. history. The companies said a merger would help them better compete with big retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon.
But the Federal Trade Commission sued earlier this year, asking Nelson to block the $24.6 billion deal until an in-house administrative judge at the FTC could consider the merger. Attorneys general from Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Wyoming and the District of Columbia joined the FTC's lawsuit.
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