艾伯森公司已经对其竞争对手克罗格提起诉讼数十亿美元的交易这将标志着美国历史上最大的超市合并。
俄勒冈州和华盛顿州的两名联邦法官周二阻止了合并，支持反对该计划的美国联邦贸易委员会，认为这会消除竞争，提高美国消费者的价格。
Albertsons周三宣布，在竞购失败后，该公司终止了合并协议。
“鉴于最近联邦和州法院决定阻止我们与克罗格的拟议合并，我们做出了终止合并协议的艰难决定，”艾伯森首席执行官维韦克·桑卡兰在一份声明中说声明。“我们对法院的判决深感失望。"
交易失败后不到24小时，爱达荷州博伊西的零售商也宣布的它已经对克罗格采取了法律行动。
“克罗格在几个关键方面蓄意违反了合并协议，包括反复拒绝剥离反垄断批准所需的资产，无视监管机构的反馈，拒绝更强烈的剥离买家，以及未能与艾伯森合作，”该公司在一份声明中称声明星期三。
Albertsons声称，这家总部位于俄亥俄州辛辛那提的杂货连锁店未能尽“最大努力”，也未能采取“任何和所有行动”来确保监管机构批准公司同意的合并交易，这是双方合并协议条款对Kroger的要求。"
该诉状已提交给特拉华州衡平法院，目前暂时封存。
作为对诉讼的回应，克罗格发布了自己的声明，称该诉讼“毫无根据”
该公司声称:“克罗格以最强烈的措辞驳斥了这些指控，特别是考虑到艾伯森在整个合并过程中一再故意重大违规和干预，我们将在法庭上证明这一点。”这显然是试图在Kroger书面通知Albertsons多次违反协议后转移责任，并寻求支付他们无权获得的合并分手费。"
克罗格表示，该公司“期待在法庭上回应这些毫无根据的指控。”
Albertsons的总法律顾问兼首席政策官汤姆·莫里亚蒂(Tom Moriarty)表达了他的失望，并表示合并“将为美国消费者和两家公司的员工带来有意义的好处”。
莫里亚蒂在一份声明中声称:“克罗格没有履行合同义务来确保合并成功，而是为了自身的财务利益，一再提供不充分的剥离提议，无视监管机构的担忧。”克罗格的自私行为以艾伯森公司和协议交易为代价，损害了艾伯森公司的股东、合伙人和消费者。"
这两家连锁超市早在2022年10月就首次提出合并，共享一个最终协议其中，美国第二大连锁杂货店Kroger试图以246亿美元的总企业价值收购第四大连锁杂货店Albertsons。
在俄勒冈州波特兰市举行为期三周的听证会后，美国地方法院法官阿德里安娜·纳尔逊(Adrienne Nelson)周二发布了阻止合并的临时禁令。
随后，华盛顿州西雅图的马歇尔·弗格森法官于周二晚些时候做出裁决，发布永久禁令，禁止该州的合并，理由是担心竞争，违反了华盛顿的消费者保护法。
克罗格在35个州经营着2800家商店，品牌包括拉尔夫斯、史密斯和哈里斯蒂特。Albertsons在34个州经营着2273家商店，包括Safeway、Jewel Osco和Shaw's等品牌。
这两家连锁超市总共有70多万名员工，几乎在美国的所有地方都有业务。
在周二法院裁决后的单独声明中，克罗格和艾伯森都表示失望，并表示他们将重新考虑他们的选择。
白宫和联邦贸易委员会都赞扬了周二的裁决。
“联邦贸易委员会与我们的州伙伴一起，为美国人民赢得了一次重大胜利，成功地阻止了克罗格对艾伯森公司的收购，”竞争局局长亨利·刘在一份声明中说声明。“这一历史性的胜利保护了全国数百万美国人免受从牛奶、面包到鸡蛋等基本食品价格上涨的影响，最终让消费者的口袋里有更多的钱。”
白宫国家经济委员会副主任Jon Donenberg周二在另一份声明中表示，“Kroger-Albertsons的合并将是历史上最大的超市合并——提高消费者的食品价格，降低工人的工资。我们的政府自豪地站出来反对提高价格、损害工人利益和伤害小企业的大公司合并。”
Albertsons sues Kroger, backs out of $25B merger after courts block the deal
Albertsons has filed a lawsuit against its rival Kroger following a failedmultibillion dollar dealthat would have marked the biggest supermarket merger in U.S. history.
Two federal judges in Oregon and Washington blocked the merger Tuesday, siding with the Federal Trade Commission, which has opposed the plan, arguing it would eliminate competition and raise prices for American shoppers.
Albertsons announced Wednesday that it had terminated the merger agreement following the failed bid.
"Given the recent federal and state court decisions to block our proposed merger with Kroger, we have made the difficult decision to terminate the merger agreement," Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said in astatement. "We are deeply disappointed in the courts' decisions."
Less than 24 hours after the failed deal, the Boise, Idaho-based retailer alsoannouncedit had taken legal action against Kroger.
"Kroger willfully breached the Merger Agreement in several key ways, including by repeatedly refusing to divest assets necessary for antitrust approval, ignoring regulators' feedback, rejecting stronger divestiture buyers and failing to cooperate with Albertsons," the company alleged in astatementWednesday.
Albertsons claimed the Cincinnati, Ohio-based grocery chain failed to exercise "best efforts" and failed to take "'any and all actions' to secure regulatory approval of the companies' agreed merger transaction as was required of Kroger under the terms of the merger agreement between the parties."
The complaint was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery against Kroger and is temporarily under seal.
In response to the lawsuit, Kroger released its ownstatement, calling the suit "baseless."
"Kroger refutes these allegations in the strongest possible terms, especially in light of Albertsons' repeated intentional material breaches and interference throughout the merger process, which we will prove in court," the company claimed. "This is clearly an attempt to deflect responsibility following Kroger's written notification of Albertsons' multiple breaches of the agreement, and to seek payment of the merger's break fee, to which they are not entitled."
Kroger said the company "looks forward to responding to these baseless claims in court."
Tom Moriarty, Albertsons' general counsel and chief policy officer, expressed his disappointment and said the merger "would have delivered meaningful benefits for America's consumers," as well as both companies' employees.
"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 claimed in a statement. "Kroger's self-serving conduct, taken at the expense of Albertsons and the agreed transaction, has harmed Albertsons' shareholders, associates and consumers."
The two supermarket chains first proposed combining forces back in October 2022, sharing adefinitive agreementin which Kroger, the second largest U.S. grocery store chain, sought to purchase the fourth largest, Albertsons, for an estimated total enterprise value of $24.6 billion.
Following a three-week hearing in Portland, Oregon, U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson issued a temporary injunction blocking the merger on Tuesday.
That was followed later on Tuesday by a decision from Judge Marshall Ferguson in Seattle, Washington, who issued a permanent injunction that barred the merger in that state, citing competition concerns and a violation of Washington's consumer-protection laws.
Kroger operates 2,800 stores across 35 states, with brands including Ralphs, Smith's and Harris Teeter. Albertsons operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw's.
Between them, the two grocery chains have more than 700,000 workers and operate almost everywhere in the U.S.
In separate statements following Tuesday's court rulings, both Kroger and Albertsons expressed disappointment and said at the time, they would review their options.
Both the White House and the FTC praised the rulings Tuesday.
"The FTC, along with our state partners, scored a major victory for the American people, successfully blocking Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons," Bureau of Competition Director Henry Liu said in astatement. "This historic win protects millions of Americans across the country from higher prices for essential groceries -- from milk, to bread, to eggs -- ultimately allowing consumers to keep more money in their pockets."
White House National Economic Council Deputy Director Jon Donenberg said in a separate statement Tuesday, "The Kroger-Albertsons merger would have been the biggest supermarket merger in history -- raising grocery prices for consumers and lowering wages for workers. Our administration is proud to stand up against big corporate mergers that increase prices, undermine workers, and hurt small businesses."
