The agency alleges the “largest proposed supermarket merger in U.S. history” could hobble competition, raise prices and harm workers.
“This supermarket mega merger comes as American consumers have seen the cost of groceries rise steadily over the past few years. Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons would lead to additional grocery price hikes for everyday goods, further exacerbating the financial strain consumers across the country face today,” said Henry Liu, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition.
Nine attorneys general from Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming joined the federal lawsuit.
“It is clear that Arizonans in rural and urban communities alike are seriously concerned about the potential for drastic changes to their daily lives if this merger goes through,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) said.
“Bottom line: this merger will benefit the shareholders of these companies, not regular Arizonans. I am proud to stand with the FTC and my fellow attorneys general in suing to block this anticompetitive, anti-consumer, and anti-worker merger.”
Kroger and Albertsons are two of the largest competitors in the grocery industry.
A Kroger-Albertsons merger would consolidate more than 5,000 stores across 48 states under one company, worrying federal regulators, lawmakers and consumer advocates.
“Giant grocery chains are price gouging American families, and the @Kroger-@Albertsons merger threatens higher prices for consumers, store closures, and lower wages for workers,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“By blocking this deal, the @FTC is fighting to both protect workers’ jobs and lower food prices.”
The supermarket chains have argued the merger is necessary to compete with retail giants Amazon, Walmart and Costco, which they say are becoming increasingly powerful players in the industry.
“If the Federal Trade Commission is successful in blocking this merger, it would be hurting customers and helping strengthen larger, multi-channel retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Costco – the very companies the FTC claims to be reining in – by allowing them to continue increasing their growing dominance of the grocery industry,” an Albertsons spokesperson said in a statement.
A Kroger spokesperson echoed that such a move “only strengthens larger, non-unionized retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon by allowing them to further increase their overwhelming and growing dominance of the grocery industry.”
The Hill’s Taylor Giorno has more here.
