PORTLAND, Ore. — This story is courtesy of the Portland Business Journal, a KGW news partner. For the full story, visit the Business Journal.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is urging a federal judge to block the Kroger Co.’s planned $24.6 billion acquisition of rival grocer Albertsons Cos., saying at a Monday news conference that the deal represents “a hell of a lot of bad news jammed into a shopping cart."
Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Pramilla Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, are leading a group of 25 members of Congress in filing an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission in U.S. District Court in Portland. The suit, filed earlier this year, seeks a to pause the deal until the FTC completes its administrative process on whether it would reduce competition, in violation of antitrust laws.
“I feel very strongly that the proposed merger runs the risk of driving up grocery prices for Oregonians and making it much harder for Oregonians to find a pharmacy,” Wyden said at a Monday news conference, held next to the parking lot of the Hollywood Fred Meyer store. “It’s time to recall this lousy merger idea and put consumers’ wallets and pocketbooks first.”
Cincinnati-based Kroger (NYSE: KR), which owns the Fred Meyer and QFC chains, is the nation’s largest traditional supermarket company and Boise, Idaho-based Albertson Cos. (NYSE: ACI), which owns Safeway, is No. 2. The two have said the combination will provide "meaningful, measurable benefits, including lower prices and more choices for families across the country and more opportunities for stable, well-paying union jobs."