Kroger and Albertsons agree to sell off 579 stores in bid to save merger
Kroger and Albertsons announced Monday they’ve agreed to sell off 579 stores to Piggly Wiggly operator C&S Wholesale Grocers as part of their $25 billion proposal to merge, a bigger divestiture than previously announced.
In the fall of 2023, Kroger and Albertsons agreed to divest 413 stores to the Keene, New Hampshire-based wholesaler and retailer in order to mollify regulators’ concerns over maintaining competition. This year, regulators, including the Federal Trade Commission, sued to stop the deal. They claimed the merger would hurt competition even with the divestitures.
Citing regulators’ concerns, Kroger and Albertsons announced they were adding 166 extra stores to the previous divestiture plan. The value of the store sale also climbed from $1.9 billion to $2.9 billion to be paid to Kroger after the merger. The original deal with C&S included a clause that noted it might be expanded in the future to win regulatory approval.
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“We have reached an agreement with C&S for an updated divestiture package that … addresses concerns raised by regulators, and will further ensure that C&S can successfully operate the divested stores as they are operated today,” Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said in a statement.
Kroger’s announcement reiterated previous assurances that no stores would close or front-line employees would lose their jobs or their union contracts. It also repeated the company’s pledge to lower prices after the merger.
The Enquirer will update this story.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kroger, Albertsons agree to sell off 579 stores to mollify regulators
