FTC’s Kroger-Albertsons Merger Suit Set for Trial in August

The US Federal Trade Commission’s bid to block the $24.6 billion merger of supermarket giants Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos.is headed for trial at the end of August in Oregon.

US District Judge Adrienne Nelson on Monday ordered the trial to start Aug. 26 in Portland, and it’s expected to last two or three weeks. The merger would be the biggest US grocery deal in history if it goes through.

The FTC, eight states and Washington D.C. sued last month, claiming the combination of the two largest US supermarket chains would lead to lower wages for workers and higher prices for consumers. Kroger and Albertsons say they need the merger to compete with larger, non-unionized rivals Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp.

The companies have pledged to invest $500 million to cut prices and $1 billion to raise worker wages and benefits, in addition to $1.3 billion to improve Albertsons stores. They also agreed to divest at least 413 stores to Piggly Wiggly chain owner C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., though the FTC has said the remedy is inadequate.

Kroger and Albertsons operate almost 5,000 supermarkets across the country, including stores brands such as Ralphs, Safeway, Harris Teeter and Jewel-Osco.

In response to the FTC’s challenge, Kroger and Albertsons said blocking the deal would hurt consumers and workers and further strengthen bigger retailers.

The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Kroger, 24-cv-00347, US District Court, District of Oregon (Portland).

--With assistance from Leah Nylen.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Emily Birnbaum in Washington at ebirnbaum3@bloomberg.net;
Jaewon Kang in Chicago at jkang351@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Sara Forden at sforden@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth, Anthony Aarons

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