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The largest supermarket merger in US history has been blocked by a federal judge, handing a victory to federal antitrust regulators who argued Kroger’s $24.6bn purchase of Albertsons would harm consumers and workers.
US district judge Adrienne Nelson in Oregon on Tuesday imposed a preliminary injunction on the takeover, which sends the proceedings to the Federal Trade Commission for further consideration. The decision diminishes the odds of the deal being completed.
Grocery prices have risen by more than a quarter in the past five years, reflecting transport bottlenecks, labour shortages, commodity costs and strong demand from consumers. Food inflation became a central theme of the US presidential race and put the nation’s two biggest supermarket operators under a microscope.
The deal between Kroger and Albertsons would place thousands of stores under a single owner and consolidate their footprint in certain regions. The companies have argued they need to merge to withstand competition from retail behemoths such as Walmart, Costco and Amazon.
The decision came about an hour before a judge in Washington state was scheduled to rule on a second case challenging the merger.
This is a developing story
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