Posted on 12/10/2024 2:11:49 PM PST by DFG
A U.S. District Judge in Oregon has blocked a $25 billion-bid by supermarket giant Kroger to take over rival Albertsons after ruling that the Federal Trade Commission's concerns about the merger's impact on market consolidation were valid.
Judge Adrienne Nelson said Tuesday afternoon that a merger between the two companies would end up harming consumers.
The two companies "engage in substantial head-to-head competition and the proposed merger would remove that competition," Ferguson wrote. As a result, the proposed merger would likely to lead to outcomes that "unilaterally" harm consumers, and is thus "presumptively unlawful. "
Judge Ferguson also ruled the merger would be bad for workers, arguing increased consolidation would reduce workers' bargaining power.
Representatives for Albertsons and Kroger did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, has said a court ruling like this one would effectively scuttle the merger.
Kroger shares closed up 5% Tuesday, while shares of Albertsons, based in Boise, finished 2% lower.
Kroger had argued the deal was necessary for it to continue to compete with big box retailers like Walmart and Target, as well as Amazon, that have significantly grown their grocery businesses.
But Nelson said that "supermarkets" still represent a distinct, niche market within the U.S. consumer landscape whose impacts from the proposed merger must be accounted for.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
In North Carolina, Kroger took over Harris Teeter.
Kroger was union employees, Harris Teeter was not. So they closed the Kroger stores and kept their Harris Teeter stores open, at higher prices.
But then Aldi’s moved in and opened several stores. They are usually packed.
Such a "merger" would negatively impact selection, prices, employees, and competition in general.
At some point, major groceries have merged enough, it's time to give us a few choices and to let those that remain compete for our biz.
I’m thinkin’ Walmart, the largest US grocer by far, has the good judge on payroll.
Don’t you love it when a single judge can f*** up a multibillion dollar business deal with the judge’s profound knowledge of the grocery business. Especially since Walmart and Amazon will benefit from the decision by NOT have another large competitor in the retail grocery space.
I'm confused. They started with Judge Adrienne Nelson but switched to Judge Ferguson.
Is it actually a single judge because according to NBC News, it’s a judge in Washington state who rules from Oregon and goes by the name of Judge Nelson and also Judge Ferguson? Someone is very confused and in need of a serious proofreader.
The COMBINED Kroeger/Albertsons market share would still be less than Walmart’s 24%.
Walmart also dominates the online grocery market, with 37% of the market share in the second quarter of 2024.
article fails to mention that “albertsons” includes over 900 Safeway grocery stores ... so this would be a merger of kroger/kingsoopers/harristeeter/albertsons/safeway and no doubt other smaller ones i’ve missed ...
The one thing not mentioned in the above is that in order for this merger to be considered, they (the post-merger entity) was going to sell a bunch of their stores to Piggly Wiggly.
The merger would not have been a good thing for consumers, or employees.
I am glad it has been temporarily blocked
kroger can suck on a bratwurst.
Good!
(From co-pilot ai)
In the Phoenix area, the market share of grocers is dominated by a few key players. Here’s a breakdown of the top grocers and their market shares:
Fry’s Food Stores: 28.32%
Walmart: 17.83%
Costco: 11.81%
Safeway: 9.87%
Bashas’: 5.63% (including Food City and AJ’s Fine Foods)
Target: 4.18%
Albertsons: 4.02%
Sprouts Farmers Markets: 3.40%
Sam’s Club: 3.36%
WinCo Foods: 2.24%
Aldi moved in recently, so they don’t yet show up. Also, Safeway and Albertson’s are the same company. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of non-grocery items puff up the Walmart numbers a bit.
I like Tom Thumb, slighttly higher-end Albertsons owned by them local to Dallas/Fort Worth, so I was worried what the merger would do to them
Herre in Redmond and Bend Oregon WinCo is great. Wonderful produce.
A robust North American hail storm will demolish a solar farm in minutes.
“In major blows to the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, a King County judge and, separately, a federal judge in Oregon ruled Tuesday that the $24 billion grocery tie-up should not be allowed to close.”
Seattletimes.com
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