Kroger, Albertsons Agree to Divest More Stores in Merger Effort

Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. agreed to divest more stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers, seeking to make their planned $24.6 billion merger more appealing to antitrust authorities.

The supermarket chains had agreed in September to sell 413 locations to C&S and have boosted the figure to 579, they said Monday.

The US Federal Trade Commission, eight states and Washington, DC, sued in February to block the proposed deal, arguing the tie-up would lead to higher prices for groceries and lower wages for workers.

The expanded divestiture plan “addresses concerns raised by regulators, and will further ensure that C&S can ...