Kroger denies Albertsons’ claims that he did not make enough to guarantee the regulatory approval of the merciful supermarkets of the companies.
In the judicial documents submitted on Tuesday at the Delaware Chancellery Court, Kroger said that Albertsons does not take into account the merger agreement of the companies and worked in secret with a partner, CANDS Wholesalers, to try to force Kroger to divert more stores to CANDS.
Kroger also said Albertsons was planning in secret Sue Kroger If the deal did not happen long before Fusion actually collapsed In December. Kroger said in the presentation of the Tuesday court that he should not be forced to pay Albertsons a termination rate of $ 600 million, as well as billions of dollars in legal fees.
In a statement on Tuesday, Albertsons said it was Kroger who failed to honor the merger agreement.
“Kroger’s interested behavior condemned the merger, and now we are focused on returning the value to Albertsons shareholders to compensate for those losses,” Albertsons said.
Kroger and Albertsons first proposed the Fusion in 2022. They argued that the combination would help them compete better with great retailers like Walmart and Costco.
But the Federal Commission And two states – Washington and Colorado – He demanded to block the merger last year, saying that he would increase prices and reduce workers’ wages by eliminating competition. Kroger’s plan and Albertsons also said to disin 579 stores CANDS Wholesalers was inappropriate to guarantee competition, since CANDS was poorly equipped to face so many stores.
In December, the judges in Washington and Oregon arrested the merger in two decisions issued in a few hours.
Kroger said that even after the lower courts ruled, he believed that the merger still had the opportunity to pass. Kroger said he told Albertsons that he was planning to commit to the FTC after the elections of President Donald Trump because he thought the FTC Bajo Trump would be less hostile for mergers.
But instead, Albertsons filed a lawsuit against Kroger on the day after the decisions of the lower courts. Albertsons said Kroger refused to get rid of more stores, even when it became clear that regulators were not satisfied with their plans. Albertsons said that Kroger should also have looked for other buyers beyond CANDS to satisfy the concerns of the regulators.
