Kroger announced the sale of over 400 stores, including 26 in Texas and two in Louisiana, as part of its plan to purchase Albertsons Cos.
Kroger-Albertsons Merger
Kroger and Albertsons supermarkets will sell more than 400 stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers for nearly $2 billion in their proposed $25 billion merger.
The contested multi-billion-dollar merger between Kroger and Albertsons is ongoing, and it’s been under the Federal Trade Commission’s scrutiny from the start. Still, the two grocery chains are making calculated sacrifices to close this deal.
To appease the FTC, Kroger and Albertsons will sell off a collective 413 stores and other assets for about $1.9 billion, The Associated Press reports.
Kroger and Albertsons are two of the largest supermarket brands in the country, so when it was announced in October 2022 that Kroger would purchase Albertsons for $24.6 billion to form one massive conglomerate, both the American public and the federal government took notice.
The main concern about joining these two grocery behemoths is that it would create a grocery monopoly that could, in theory, lead to higher consumer prices because of reduced competition.
Kroger currently has around 2,700 locations nationwide, and Albertsons has 2,300, which means combining the two would give a single company control over approximately 5,000 grocery stores in the U.S.
Both companies said they will also sell the QFC, Mariano’s, and Carr’s brand names in a news release announcing their plans. Kroger will also divest the Debi Lilly Design, Primo Taglio, Open Nature, ReadyMeals, and Waterfront Bistro private label brands.
“The proposed merger will create meaningful and measurable benefits for America’s consumers, Kroger and Albertsons associates, and communities that both Kroger and Albertsons serve by expanding access to fresh, affordable food and establishing a more compelling alternative to large, non-union retailers,” a Kroger release said.
The grocery chains said they must merge to compete with Walmart, Amazon, and other major companies that have entered the grocery business.
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