Market holidays and trading hours provided by Copp Clark Limited. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices Copyright S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates. Standard & Poor’s and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. US market indices are shown in real time, except for the S&P 500 which is refreshed every two minutes. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account The FTC is currently looking into anti-competitive practices in the grocery industry and requested information last year from Kroger and others on the causes of empty shelves and surging prices in the United States. The American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly organization, said the “merger would be disastrous for market competition, small businesses, and especially – consumers’ pockets.”įTC chair Lina Khan is critic of corporate consolidation, and the regulator has blocked large retail mergers in the past, including Staples’ attempts to combine with Office Depot. Bernie Sanders called it a “absolute disaster” and called on the Biden administration to reject the deal. “To be clear, the UFCW will oppose any merger that threatens the jobs of America’s essential workers, union and non-union, and undermines our communities,” he said. As America’s largest union of essential workers, protecting the livelihoods of this nation’s grocery workers, union and non-union, is our highest priority,” UFCW International president Marc Perrone, said in a statement Friday. “The proposed merger has serious implications for hundreds of thousands of our UFCW members and America’s families who are more concerned than ever about inflation’s impact on the price of their food and groceries, prescription drugs, and gas. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.3 million workers in grocery stores, meatpacking plants and other essential industries along the food supply chain also voiced some concern about the proposed merger.

It could also spur a new wave of consolidation in the industry among smaller companies attempting to compete. They say it would harm consumers by raising prices and driving out competition. “A deal of this size that has a direct impact on consumers would face significant scrutiny from regulators and take a long time period to be approved,” Joseph Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group, said.Ĭonsumer watchdogs, unions, and Democrats have already come out strongly against the deal. The companies said they will spin off nearly 400 stores to form a new rival in an effort to gain antitrust clearance.Īnalysts expect some store closures if the deal goes through and also say it will be a significant hurdle to pass antitrust scrutiny. Kroger operates Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Dillons, Fred Meyer and others, while Albertsons owns Safeway and Vons. The two companies operate dozens of grocery chains. (KR) slid 5% in early trading Friday, while Albertsons dropped 7%. (KR) will buy Albertsons for $34.10 a share - a roughly 30% premium above the grocery chain’s average share price over the course of the past month. Albertsons is known for having higher prices than Kroger and analysts say Kroger may try to lower the chain’s prices. Kroger said the deal would benefit consumers and it will use half a billion dollars in cost savings from the merger to invest in lower prices. The food at home index, a proxy for grocery store prices, increased 0.7% in September from the month prior and 13% over the last year. Prices at grocery stores continued to soar last month.

The move also comes as companies battle higher costs and food inflation reaches its highest level in decades. Its combined market share in the $1.4 trillion grocery industry would be 13.5%, according to Morgan Stanley, making it the second largest grocer behind Walmart’s 15.5% share.

The company would become the third largest retail chain in America by sales. If the deal is completed, it would be one of the largest mergers in US retail history – dwarfing Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion. The merger “accelerates our position as a more compelling alternative to larger and non-union competitors,” Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen said in a statement Friday. Ting Shen/Xinhua/Getty Imagesįood prices are still surging - here's what's getting more expensive People shop at a local supermarket in Washington, D.C., the United States, Sept.

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