Why do businesses merge?
The number one reason is to raise prices.
They do this by reducing competition through turning a competitive market into an oligopoly.
I thought it was to improve economies of scale, streamline operations, cut costs and lower prices.
Whatever the reason it is none of government's freaking business. Government is the MAIN source of hinderance to open competition in the marketplace.
LESS GOVERNMENT, MORE PROSPERTIY!
Take a basic economic class. That’s total BS.
Synergies in support. Like HR, Payroll, Accounting, Logistics, etc. Do same or more with less headcount?
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.