The Biden administration announced Monday that it will file a lawsuit to block the planned merger of grocery retailers Kroger Co. and Albertsons Companies Inc., calling it anticompetitive.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has blocked a $24.6 billion takeover between Kroger and Albertsons, arguing that the merger would eliminate fierce competition and lower product quality while raising prices. filed a lawsuit asking for it. according to Press release from FTC. The Biden administration has filed multiple lawsuits through both the FTC and the Department of Justice seeking to block large mergers during the president's term, and is also seeking to break up companies it claims are monopolies like Google and Amazon. . (Related: New drug prices to soar in 2023 as Biden administration aims to cut costs)
“This supermarket mega-merger is an important step forward for U.S. consumers who have seen steadily rising grocery prices over the past several years,” Henry Liu, director of the FTC's Competition Bureau, said in a statement. We received the request and realized it.” “Kroger's acquisition of Albertsons will lead to further increases in everyday grocery prices, exacerbating the financial strain currently facing consumers across the country. Employees will also suffer under this agreement, facing the threat of lower wages, fewer benefits, and worse working conditions.”
The two grocery stores were initially considering merger talks in October 2022, with hopes that the acquisition would create a “supermarket giant.” The proposed deal would eclipse the largest U.S. supermarket deal since 2006, when a group of investment firms including Supervalu and CVS Health Corp. acquired Albertsons for about $9.8 billion.
FTC challenges Kroger's acquisition of Albertsons. The largest supermarket merger in U.S. history will eliminate competition and raise food prices for millions of Americans, while harming tens of thousands of workers, the FTC claims. https://t.co/sEYAemY2ix /1
— FTC (@FTC) February 26, 2024
A Kroger spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation: “The FTC's decision puts American consumers at risk of higher food prices and more at a time when communities across the country are already facing high inflation and food deserts. “We are now more likely to experience a decline in grocery stores.” “In fact, this decision will enable and strengthen large, non-unionized retailers like Walmart, Costco, and Amazon to further increase their overwhelming and growing control over the grocery industry. Only.”
If the merger is approved, Kroger and Albertsons would operate more than 5,000 stores in 48 states and employ 700,000 people, according to the FTC. These two supermarkets are in direct competition. Kroger is currently the second largest food retailer in the United States, and Albertsons is the fourth largest. according to To Axios.
“The combination of Albertsons and Kroger will increase competition, lower prices, increase employee wages, protect union jobs and improve the shopping experience for our customers,” an Albertsons spokesperson said. told DCNF. “If the Federal Trade Commission is successful in blocking this merger, it will harm customers and destroy the very large multichannel retailers that the FTC claims to regulate, such as Amazon, Walmart, and Costco. “Their control of the grocery industry will continue to grow.”
The FTC, under Lina Khan, has pursued many top companies for anticompetitive conduct, including Amazon, which it sued in September 2023 for exhibiting a pattern of illegal conduct that amounts to monopoly.
In July 2023, a federal judge rejected the FTC's bid to block the $68.7 billion merger between Microsoft and Activision. In June 2021, a judge dismissed an antitrust lawsuit from the FTC against Facebook, which claimed it had a monopoly on personal social networking services.
The FTC postponed the DCNF announcement until a press release.
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