Albertsons on Wednesday called off its $24.6 billion merger with Kroger, a day after a judge temporarily blocked the union, and sued the rival grocery chain for breach of contract.
“Given the recent federal and state court decisions to block our proposed merger with Kroger, we have made the difficult decision to terminate the merger agreement,” Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said in a statement. “We are deeply disappointed in the courts’ decisions.”
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,750 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, including the chains Harris Teeter, Mariano’s, Ralphs and Smith’s. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates roughly 2,300 stores in 34 states, including brands like Jewel Osco, Safeway and Shaw’s. Together the companies employ around 700,000 people.
In a separate statement issued Wednesday, Albertsons said it is suing Kroger for willful breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Albertsons alleges that Kroger failed “to exercise ‘best efforts’ and to take ‘any and all actions’ to secure regulatory approval of the companies’ agreed merger transaction, as was required of Kroger under the terms of the merger agreement between the parties,” according to the statement.
In an email to CBS News, Kroger called Albertsons’ claims “baseless and without merit.”
“Kroger refutes these allegations in the strongest possible terms, especially in light of Albertsons’ repeated intentional material breaches and interference throughout the merger process,” a spokesperson told CBS News.
Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,750 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, including brands like Ralphs, Smith’s and Harris Teeter. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates roughly 2,300 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw’s. Together the companies employ around 700,000 people.
The retailers agreed to join forces in October 2022, arguing the union would help them compete with Amazon, Costco, Walmart and other larger rivals.
—This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Aimee Picchi
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.
