After concluding that the Federal Trade Commission’s worries over the merger’s potential impact on market concentration were legitimate, a Washington state judge halted grocery giant Kroger’s $25 billion proposal to acquire rival Albertson’s.
Marshall Ferguson, a judge in the King County Superior Court, stated Tuesday afternoon that a merger between the two businesses would ultimately hurt customers.
The two businesses “engage in substantial head-to-head competition and the proposed merger would remove that competition,” according to Ferguson’s letter. Therefore, the proposed merger is “presumptively unlawful” since it is likely to result in consequences that “unilaterally” injure consumers.
Judge Ferguson also decided that the merger would be detrimental to workers, stating that workers’ bargaining strength would be diminished by greater consolidation.
Requests for response from Albertson’s and Kroger representatives were not immediately answered.
For the Biden administration, and particularly for FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has adopted an unprecedentedly tough stance in opposing mergers that could result in monopolies, the verdict is a success.
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