A U.S. district judge in Oregon has blocked a $25 billion bid by supermarket giant Kroger to take over rival Albertsons, ruling that the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s concerns about the merger\u2019s impact on market consolidation were valid. <\/p>\n
Judge Adrienne Nelson\u00a0said Tuesday afternoon that a merger between the two companies would end up harming consumers. <\/p>\n
The two companies \u2018engage in substantial head-to-head competition and the proposed merger would remove that competition,\u2019 Ferguson wrote. As a result, the proposed merger would be likely to lead to outcomes that \u2018unilaterally\u2019 harm consumers and is thus \u2018presumptively unlawful.\u00a0\u2018<\/p>\n
Ferguson also ruled the merger would be bad for workers, arguing that increased consolidation would reduce workers\u2019 bargaining power. <\/p>\n
Albertsons said in a statement that it is \u2018disappointed by the U.S. District Court\u2019s decision to grant the FTC\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018We believe we clearly outlined during the proceedings how the proposed merger would expand competition, lower prices, increase associate wages, protect union jobs, and enhance customers\u2019 shopping experience. We are carefully reviewing the Court\u2019s opinion and are evaluating our options in accordance with the merger agreement,\u2019 it said.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Kroger also expressed disappointment and said the company \u2018is currently reviewing its options.\u2019<\/p>\n
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, has said a court ruling like this one would effectively scuttle the merger. <\/p>\n
The FTC applauded the decision, saying the agency \u201cscored a major victory for the American people, successfully blocking Kroger\u2019s acquisition of Albertsons.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018This victory has a direct, tangible impact on the lives of millions of Americans who shop at Kroger or Albertsons-owned grocery stores for their everyday needs, whether that\u2019s a Fry\u2019s in Arizona, a Von\u2019s in Southern California, or a Jewel-Osco in Illinois,\u2019 the FTC said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Kroger shares closed up 5% Tuesday, while shares of Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, finished 2% lower. <\/strong> <\/p>\n Kroger had argued the deal was necessary for it to continue to compete with big box retailers like Walmart and Target, as well as Amazon, that have significantly grown their grocery businesses. <\/p>\n But Nelson said that \u2018supermarkets\u2019 still represent a distinct, niche market within the U.S. consumer landscape and that the impacts from the proposed merger must be accounted for. <\/p>\n The ruling is a victory for the Biden administration and especially FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has taken an unprecedentedly aggressive approach to countering mergers likely to create monopolies. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n A U.S. district judge in Oregon has blocked a $25 billion bid by supermarket giant Kroger to take over rival Albertsons, ruling that the Federal Trade Commission\u2019s concerns about the merger\u2019s impact on market consolidation were valid. Judge Adrienne Nelson\u00a0said Tuesday afternoon that a merger between the two companies would end up harming consumers. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":13129,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}