The Federal Trade Commission could decide whether the Kroger-Albertsons megamerger should proceed as early as this month. Some state attorneys have indicated they might take legal action to stop the acquisition.
Kroger claims that the nearly $25 billion purchase of Albertson’s would help it remain competitive against prominent players like Amazon, Walmart, and Costco, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. However, employees, state officials, and some lawmakers oppose the deal, claiming it would hurt consumer options.
Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran disagrees with those who oppose the merger. In 2022, Sankaran told a Senate antitrust hearing, “This merger will help protect the local community grocery stores that people love.”
Kroger is the largest supermarket operator in the U.S., with 2,719 locations and 430,000 employees. They own Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, and King Soopers. Texas has 209 Kroger locations and nine in Dallas alone.
Albertson’s follows in second place with 2,273 stores, including its Safeway and Vons subsidiaries. The grocery company employs 290,000 people across its stores.
To help push the deal through, the companies agreed to sell upwards of 650 stores to appease concerns over the potential for diminished competition.
According to both companies, the merger will allow them to lower prices for shoppers and increase wages for employees. Even still, the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, representing over 350,000 workers across the two chains, opposes the merger.
“The impact this megamerger would have on workers’ wages, food prices, and industry competition will be staggering and must not be understated,” the union warned on its website.