Kroger and Albertsons vs. the FTC: Here’s what to expect in merger trial set to start Monday

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A legal showdown that could reshape the American grocery landscape is about to unfold in Portland, where the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history hangs in balance.. A hearing that could determine the fate of the deal, set in a Portland federal courtroom, is expected to last three weeks., is broadly seen as a test of the commission’s emboldened efforts to rein in corporate consolidation.

If a federal judge grants an injunction that would delay the deal’s closing, Kroger and Albertsons are likely to abandon the deal altogether, experts say, though the companies have vowed to exhaust any available legal options before giving up.That sets high stakes for Kroger and Albertsons, which announced their plans to merge in October 2022 and aimed to close the deal by early 2024.

In July, Nelson convened an expert tutorial in court, where each party designated an expert to provide her an “objective and neutral” economics lesson.Consumers take spotlight Research shows grocery chain mergers can benefit consumers when the buyer adds territory, Herbert Hovenkamp, an antitrust expert and law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Better distribution and efforts to win over customers can bring low prices. Kroger, which has expanded through many mergers and consolidations over the last four decades, including its purchase of Fred Meyer in 1998, has a record of keeping prices low, Hovenkamp said.

The argument that the merger would hurt consumers might seem straightforward, but the dynamics of the grocery industry might make it more difficult for regulators to prevail. In the government’s original complaint, regulators alleged that, in 2019, Kroger and Albertsons “successfully coordinated” in negotiations with Portland union workers that led to less favorable wages and working conditions for employees.

The government is betting heavily on discrediting C&S, the proposed divestiture buyer. In court filings, the Federal Trade Commission argued that the divestiture plan to C&S is “fatally flawed.”

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