Reposted from: https://www.thefencepost.com/news/judge-halts-kroger-albertson-merger/
A federal judge in Oregon blocked Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of grocery rival Albertsons on Tuesday, The Washington Post reported.
The Post said the ruling marks “the possible end of what would have been the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history.”
The Post added, “The ruling is a decisive win for the Federal Trade Commission, which under the Biden administration has cracked down on megamergers on antitrust grounds. The FTC, joined by eight states and the District of Columbia, argued that allowing the Kroger-Albertsons deal to go forward would give consumers — who have already seen grocery prices surge by 22% over four years — even fewer choices.”
Farm Action, a group that fights corporate monopolies in agriculture, applauded the ruling.
Farm Action President and Co-founder Angela Huffman said, “Today’s ruling is a necessary blow to corporate control over our food and agriculture system. This mega-merger would have only benefited the pockets of corporate shareholders. While industry consolidation increases prices for consumers and harms workers, grocery mergers also have a devastating impact on farmers and ranchers. When grocery stores consolidate, farmers have even fewer options for where to sell their products, and the chances of them receiving a fair price for their goods are diminished further. Today’s ruling is a win for farmers, workers and consumers alike.”
The Center for Science in the Public Interest praised the decision. CSPI President Peter Lurie said, “Of course, the companies will likely appeal, but the government brought an extremely persuasive case that it should continue to pursue should industry appeal. Perhaps it would be for the best if these companies prioritized their customers and abandoned their plans to merge and avoided more months of litigation.”
Lurie added, “Overnight, this $25 billion merger would have created the nation’s second largest grocer. The combined company, along with the largest grocer, Walmart, would have controlled just over half of the food retail market. While we’re glad about today’s verdict, we also hope that the FTC continues to scrutinize anti-competitive practices in the supermarket industry, including slotting fees, ‘category captains,’ and other trade practices.”
