A shopper heads into a Safeway store, which is part of the Albertson’s grocery chain, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Albertsons is giving up on its merger with Kroger a day after it was rejected in two courts and it is suing the grocery chain, saying it didn’t do enough to secure regulatory approval for the $24.6 billion agreement.
U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the merger Tuesday after holding a three-week hearing in Portland, Oregon. Then 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.
On Wednesday Albertsons said that Kroger failed to exercise “best efforts” and to take “any and all actions” to secure regulatory approval of the companies’ agreed merger transaction.
FILE – The exterior of Kroger’s fulfillment center is shown on July 27, 2022 in Dallas, Tex. (Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)
(Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)
FILE – The entrance to an Albertson’s grocery store is shown on Aug. 24, 2024, in Cheyenne, Wyo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
FILE – The exterior of Kroger’s fulfillment center is shown on July 27, 2022 in Dallas, Tex. (Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)
(Rebecca Slezak/The Dallas Morning News via AP, File)