By Leah Nylen and Christopher Cannon
Source: Bloomberg
To complete the largest ever US supermarket merger, Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. are trying to allay antitrust concerns with a plan to sell off nearly 600 stores across the country where the companies now compete.
The Biden administration and a coalition of states fighting the deal say that spin-off is doomed to fail. At a trial next month, they plan to cite as evidence a botched divestment from nearly a decade ago: In 2015, Albertsons took over rival Safeway by promising to sell 168 stores so shoppers would still have competition to keep their grocery bills down.
It was then the biggest divestiture of supermarkets ever.
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