RE: The number one reason is to raise prices. They do this by reducing competition through turning a competitive market into an oligopoly.
It’s not as simple as that though.
When two companies with complementary operations merge, they can eliminate redundancies and streamline processes, leading to cost savings that can be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices. In fact, Albertsons ( which Kroger is now trying to merge with ) actually merged with Safeway in 2015 was expected to generate $1.4 billion in annual cost savings, some of which could be used to lower prices for shoppers.
Kroger’s rationale today for merging with Albertsons ( and indirectly, Safeway) was that Combining operations and purchasing power to cost savings on procurement and logistics, potentially enabling lower prices.
They claim that a larger entity could have gained more leverage with suppliers, potentially securing lower prices for some products. This could benefit shoppers, but may not be reflected across all product categories.
But Grocery prices are influenced by various factors beyond mergers, including global commodity prices, transportation costs, labor costs, and local competition. Isolating the merger’s specific impact is difficult.
Fox News via MSN and Daniela Genovese are at best economically ill-informed and against the market economy free from government interference. The Left always tries to deflect away from the gross economic hinderances by government to perceived slights in free enterprise. They always try to make free enterprise the bad guy. Don’t believe it for a minute. The government is BY FAR the economic culprit and thief and they and their media minions are LIARS.
As Adam Smith laid out in the “Wealth of Nations”, government is the enemy of prosperity while freedom from government and the Free Market Economy with free and open competition is the source of wealth and demonstrated by America in the 1800’s going into the 1900’s.
Mergers and acquisitions are generally a sign of business success which government likes to regulate. In doing so government HINDERS the open competition of new players who challenge others’ dominance in the marketplace. OF COURSE a company would like to be free from competition. But KEEP GOVERNMENT OUT of the market economy and there will be plenty of competition and the CONSUMER AND THE ECONOMY are always the winners.
KEEP GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE MARKET ECONOMY.
LESS GOVERNMENT, MORE PROPSERITY.