Government Urges Judge To Block Kroger-Albertsons Merger

  • 📰 News4SA
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 47 sec. here
  • 8 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 43%
  • Publisher: 63%

Business News

Kroger,Albertsons,Merger

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argued in court Tuesday that the proposed $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons would harm consumers by eliminating competition and potentially leading to higher food prices.

PORTLAND, Ore. - The federal government urged a U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday to temporarily prevent a proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, saying in closing arguments the combination would “almost certainly” benefit shareholders and not everyday shoppers.

U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson must now decide whether to grant the injunction while the FTC's anti-trust complaint goes goes before an in-house administrative law judge. Nelson said she would work “expeditiously” on her decision, but she didn't say when she would rule. But Wolf pushed back, saying Kroger and Albertsons were competing for the same customers as retailers that have lower labor costs because their workers aren't unionized.Kroger has said it plans to invest $1 billion in lower prices, if the merger goes through. Wolf said the company would focus on lowering prices “from day one.”

FTC attorneys have noted that the two supermarket chains currently compete in 22 states, closely matching each other on price, quality, private label products and services like store pickup. Shoppers benefit from that competition and would lose those benefits if the merger is allowed to proceed, they said.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 251. in NG

Nigeria Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Nigeria Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Federal Government Urges Court To Block Kroger-Albertsons MergerThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argues that the $24.6 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons would eliminate competition and lead to higher food prices for consumers, while the supermarket chains claim it would allow them to better compete with rivals like Walmart and Amazon.
Source: 13WHAM - 🏆 256. / 63 Read more »