Albertsons

Albertsons and Kroger supermarketsBridget Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images; Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesThe battle over whether grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons should be allowed to combine is heating up.On Tuesday, leaders of the two companies defended their proposed merger at a congressional hearing in Washington, where they faced a series of questions about how the deal could shake up the competitive landscape — and potentially the prices that consumers pay at the store.related investing newsBlack Friday was…

Chief executives of the two largest U.S. supermarket chains are set to testify Tuesday at a Senate subcommittee hearing, where they are expected to defend their companies’ proposed $20 billion merger and address questions about how it could affect American grocers and consumers.  Kroger Co. KR -0.43% CEO Rodney McMullen and Albertsons ACI 0.44% Cos. CEO Vivek Sankaran…

A customer pays for groceries at a Safeway supermarket, a subsidiary of Albertsons. Photo: michael reynolds/Shutterstock…

Elected officials, independent grocers and union groups are airing concerns and in some cases pushing back on the proposed deal between Kroger Co. KR 0.21% and Albertsons ACI 0.72% Cos. as antitrust officials are set to begin reviewing the supermarket megamerger.Kroger in October announced it would acquire Albertsons, saying that a deal would help them boost their scale and technology, and better compete with larger…

By Sabrina Willmer Albertsons Cos. should hold off on a $4 billion dividend payment to shareholders while a pending merger with Kroger Co. is reviewed, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine said on behalf of a bipartisan group of attorneys general. The dividend “could be a massive improper giveaway to certain shareholders,” Racine said Wednesday on CNBC’s Squawk Box, in announcing that the AGs had asked Albertsons to pause the payout. With less cash available, the grocery chain would face difficulty competing in…

Beyond Meat is rolling out a steak substitute. Photo: Beyond Meat Oct. 24, 2022 10:54…

When grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons announced plans for a $24.6-billion merger last week, my first reaction was a monster movie: Godzilla and Mothra lumbering toward an awful love. Two corporate reptiles ready to wreck the city almost incidentally as they consummate their bottom line.This new mega-grocer would immediately corner 19% of the market, pulling in $200 billion per year, controlling 5,000 stores, 50 manufacturing centers and the careers of over 700,000 workers. To put that size in perspective, in 1944,…

The antitrust authorities who review the planned merger, however, may be more focused on the supermarket down the street, according to lawyers and industry officials. Kroger’s plan to acquire rival Albertsons, announced last week, would combine the biggest and second-biggest supermarket companies in the country by sales, which operate a combined total of about 5,000 stores stretching from California to Washington, D.C. The companies’ combined market share of 13% of U.S. grocery sales would rank below…

Albertsons posted a quarterly profit of $343 million amid higher grocery prices across the U.S. Photo: Ash Ponders/Bloomberg News…

Grocery giant Kroger Co. is pausing share buybacks ahead of its planned acquisition of rival Albertsons Cos. Inc., aiming to use the additional cash to reduce its debt as it closes one of the biggest deals in U.S. grocery-industry history.The blockbuster transaction comes amid a slowdown in deal making, economic uncertainty and concerns among investors about companies that carry high levels of debt. Financing costs for companies across the credit spectrum have…