DENVER — Phil Weiser, attorney general for the state of Colorado, recently announced that he would be filing a lawsuit to stop the merger between Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. Inc.
In the lawsuit filed at the Denver District Court, Weiser stated that the merger would eliminate competition between Kroger and Albertsons in a heavily concentrated market.
“Coloradans are concerned about undue consolidation and its harmful impacts on consumers, workers and suppliers,” Weiser said. “After 19 town halls across the state, I am convinced that Coloradans think this merger between the two supermarket chains would lead to stores closing, higher prices, fewer jobs, worse customer service and less resilient supply chains.”
The lawsuit also challenges the ‘no-poach’ agreement between the two companies that occurred during a 2022 strike that affected both companies. Weiser is seeking $1 million in civil penalties from Kroger and Albertsons on this issue.
As part of the pending agreement, Kroger proposed that it would sell 413 stores along with other assets to C&S Wholesale Grocers.
As part of the divestiture plan, C&S would acquire 50 Safeway stores and both Albertsons stores located in Colorado, which would be re-bannered as Albertsons stores. Under the plan, a total of 53 Safeway stores would transfer to Kroger, bringing its Colorado store count to 201.
Weiser stated when filing the lawsuit that the Kroger divestiture plan must be viewed with heavy skepticism in light of Albertsons’ involvement in a failed divestiture plan when merging with Safeway in 2015.
“Our conclusion in this case — and our skepticism about the proposed divestiture — is strongly supported by what happened in the Albertsons/Safeway merger, where stores closed, jobs were lost, consumers suffered, and the divestiture failed miserably to preserve competition,” Weiser said. “We won’t risk another such failed divestiture and we will fight hard to preserve competition for consumers, workers, and suppliers, all of whom have raised serious concerns about the remedy proposed in this case.”
Last month, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a similar lawsuit trying to block the merger.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes ordered an investigation into Kroger Co.’s acquisition of Albertsons in February 2023.