SEATTLE — Bob Ferguson, attorney general for the state of Washington, announced on Jan. 15 that he would file a lawsuit to block the pending merger between grocery retailers Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos.

The legal action Ferguson took in the King County Superior Court asks the court to rule the merger violates Washington antitrust law, and to issue an injunction permanently blocking the merger nationwide.

Kroger and Albertsons proposal to mitigate impacts of the merger by selling off more than 100 stores in Washington would not change Kroger’s position of a near-monopoly in many markets in the state, according to Ferguson.

Kroger planned to sell the stores to C&S Wholesale Grocer under a proposed agreement in September 2023. Ferguson said that 104 of the stores in the deal were in Washington.

Ferguson added that Kroger and Albertsons are the two largest supermarket chains in the state and the second and fourth largest supermarket operators in the United States. Together, the two companies have more than 700,000 employees in almost 5,000 stores in 49 states, with combined annual revenue of more than $200 billion.

Kroger alone employs more than 21,000 workers in Washington.  

The original news of Kroger acquiring Albertsons came out in October 2022.

On Jan. 15, Kroger and Albertsons put out a statement saying they expect to close the merger in the first half of Kroger’s fiscal 2024.

“We remain in active and ongoing dialogue with the Federal Trade Commission and individual state Attorneys General regarding our proposed merger and divestiture plan,” the companies said. “We believe our merger with Albertsons and the comprehensive divestiture to C&S will result in the best outcomes for customers, associates and our communities. While this is longer than we originally thought, we knew it was a possibility and our merger agreement and divestiture plan accounted for such potential timing. We remain committed to closing the transaction and providing the meaningful and measurable benefits that we promised when we originally announced the transaction.”

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued an investigation into Kroger Co.’s acquisition of Albertsons in February 2023.