U.S. retailer Albertsons has terminated its merger with Kroger and is suing the grocery chain just one day after federal judges blocked the proposed multibillion-dollar merger.
On 10 December, U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson issued a temporary injunction against the merger, while Judge Marshall Ferguson in King County Superior Court in the U.S. state of Washington declared the merger “unlawful,” per Supermarket News.
After the court rulings, Albertsons said on 11 December it is terminating the USD 26.5 billion (EUR 25.3 billion) merger with Kroger, and the company has filed a lawsuit against Kroger for “willful breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.”
Albertsons’ lawsuit claims 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 under the terms of the merger agreement. According to Albertsons, Kroger repeatedly refused to divest assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignored regulators’ feedback, and rejected stronger buyers than C&S Wholesale Grocers.
“A successful merger between Albertsons and Kroger would have delivered meaningful benefits for America's consumers, Kroger’s and Albertsons’ associates, and communities across the country,” Albertsons General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer Tom Moriarty said.
Rather than fulfill its contractual obligations to ensure that the merger succeeded, Kroger “acted in its own financial self-interest, repeatedly providing insufficient divestiture proposals that ignored regulators’ concerns,” Moriarty said. “We are disappointed that the opportunity to realize the significant benefits of the merger has been lost on account of Kroger’s willfully deficient approach to securing regulatory clearance.”
Albertsons is seeking ...
