What’s at stake as the FTC tries to kill the Kroger-Albertsons deal

The fate of the $24.6 billion deal will affect shoppers, workers and rival behemoths like Walmart. The question is how.

The Biden administration’s move Monday to try to block the $24.6 billion deal to combine Kroger and Albertsons supermarket chains came as no surprise. This White House has launched some of the most aggressive antitrust policies in living memory.

The Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit holds big stakes for the grocery industry, millions of shoppers and hundreds of thousands of store workers. Yet there’s plenty of debate over who has the stronger case — the companies or the regulators — and how the battle will shake out.

“The FTC’s position that Kroger and Albertsons currently compete with each other, and that keeps prices lower — this is the first time that we’re really hearing that,” said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and founder of SupermarketGuru.com.

These are a few of the factors hanging in the balance.

The two companies and the FTC have opposite predictions for what would happen to grocery prices if Kroger is allowed to buy Albertsons.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/ftc-kroger-albertsons-merger-grocery-prices-rcna140537

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