Albertsons announced Wednesday that it plans to terminate its $25 billion merger agreement with Kroger and sue the grocery giant, accusing Kroger of not working hard enough to reach the deal.
Judges in Washington and Oregon on Tuesday handed the deal a victory for federal regulators and consumer advocates who argued that the merger could hurt competition, consumers and workers, and drive up prices. I stopped it.
“Rather than fulfilling its contractual obligations to ensure the success of the merger, Kroger acted in its own economic interest and repeatedly presented an unsatisfactory sale proposal that ignored regulators’ concerns. Kroger's self-serving actions at the expense of the deal agreed to with Albertsons harmed Albertsons' shareholders, employees, and consumers,'' said Albertsons General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer. Tom Moriarty said.
Kroger said Albertsons' claims are “baseless and without merit.”
“Kroger refutes these allegations in the strongest possible terms, especially given Albertsons' repeated and significant intentional violations and interference throughout the merger process,” Kroger said in a statement.
“This is clearly an attempt to avoid liability and seek merger penalty payments to which Albertsons is not entitled, following Kroger's written notice of Albertsons' multiple breaches of contract.”
A Kroger spokesperson declined to provide further details about the allegations in a statement. Albertsons declined to comment beyond the press release.
The abandonment of the merger is a major victory for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has pursued aggressive antitrust policies.
In February, regulators, joined by nine attorneys general, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the proposed merger, arguing that it would harm competition and workers, and lead to price increases. Ta.
The White House and consumer advocates praised the judge's decision.
“The Kroger-Albertsons merger would have been the largest supermarket merger in history, raising grocery prices for consumers and lowering workers' wages. We're proud to stand up against large corporate mergers that weaken our economy and harm small and medium-sized businesses,” said John Donenberg, deputy director of the National Economic Council.
