A day after a federal judge in Oregon refused to allow the $25 billion merger of retailers Kroger and Albertsons to proceed, the deal has gone south. Albertsons is no longer pursuing the merger and is instead suing Kroger for breach of contract.
There merger would have combined Kroger, which is the nation’s 5th largest retailer, with Albertsons, which is the 10th largest. The two wanted to combine so they could compete with Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, and other major retailers. The Federal Trade Commission, under the Biden Administration, opposed the deal, as did labor unions and Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska.
“We have made the difficult decision to terminate the merger agreement,” Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran on Wednesday in a prepared statement. The company says now that Kroger failed to uphold its end of the deal by pursuing all avenues of getting regulatory approval for the merger from the Federal Trade Commission.
Kroger owns Fred Meyer multi-retailer chain, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith’s, King Soopers, Fry’s, QFC, City Market, Owen’s, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker’s, Gerbes, Harris Teeter, Pick ‘n Save, and Metro Market. Albertsons owns Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, and Haggen.
