FTC Loses Bid to Compel Docs in Kroger-Albertsons Deal Challenge

Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. defeated the Federal Trade Commission’s efforts to force the supermarket giants to produce documents on their plans to divest stores as part of their $25 billion tie-up.

The FTC’s request for negotiation materials was “premature,” Chief Administrative Law Judge Michael Chappell said in a Thursday order denying the FTC’s motion without prejudice.

The administrative judge’s decision comes roughly a month after Kroger and Albertsons announced they had reached an amended plan to sell off 579 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. to ensure C&S operates competitively following the completion of the proposed deal and to ...