As of yesterday, the gloves are officially off. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a suit to block the proposed $24.6 billion Kroger/Albertsons merger in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, alleging the deal is anticompetitive. A bipartisan group of nine attorneys general from Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming have joined the FTC’s federal court complaint. Attorneys general in Washington state and Colorado earlier this year independently filed lawsuits to block the mega merger. 🔎According to the regulatory agency, the commission investigating the merger’s anti-competitiveness unanimously voted (3-0) in favor of filing a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the deal. 🛒In the complaint, the FTC argues that Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons would obliterate “fierce” competition in the grocery industry, resulting in higher prices and lower quality products for consumers. Additionally, the agency claims, the deal would harm the tens of thousands of workers employed by both corporations. 💭“This supermarket mega merger comes as American consumers have seen the cost of groceries rise steadily over the past few years. Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons would lead to additional price hikes for everyday goods, further exacerbating the financial strain consumers face,” said Henry Liu, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, in a press release. 🤔Albertsons is holding firm in its belief the deal will “expand competition, lower prices, increase associate wages, protect union jobs and enhance customers’ shopping experience;” Kroger echoed similar sentiments. Both retailers also reemphasized that rejecting the deal would harm their ability to compete against multi-channel retailers such as Amazon, Walmart and Costco. 🤝The FTC’s filing also challenges whether the previously announced divestiture plan with C&S Wholesale Grocers has the potential to be successful and allow the newly divested businesses to hold their own against their former parent organization. 👍Although the general response to the merger from consumers, brands, workers unions and regulators alike has been overwhelmingly negative, some remain hopeful. Last week, one branch of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 555 – which represents 30,000 mostly grocery workers in the Pacific Northwest – endorsed the merger despite the national UFCW rejecting the proposed deal. ⏩What comes next? If nothing else, the FTC’s federal court complaint stretches out any potential timeline for completing the merger. 🧑⚖️Both Kroger and Albertsons have expressed their willingness to go to court for the deal. Federal regulators are also expected to put up a fight, which means the merger’s close date could be pushed out even further. Learn more about the argument from both sides, the 40-year-old precedent set on competition in the grocery space and what the future holds by reading the full story on Nosh. | 
