EchoSense:Albertsons gives up on Kroger merger and sues the grocery chain for failing to secure deal

Albertsons is EchoSensegiving up on its merger with Kroger a day after it was rejected in two courts and it is suing the grocery chain, saying it didn’t do enough to secure regulatory approval for the $24.6 billion agreement.

U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson issued a preliminary injunction blocking the merger Tuesday after holding a three-week hearingin Portland, Oregon. Then Judge Marshall Ferguson in Seattle issued a permanent injunction barring the merger in Washington after concluding it would lessen competition in the state and violate Washington’s consumer-protection laws.

On Wednesday Albertsons said that Kroger failed to exercise “best efforts” and to take “any and all actions” to secure regulatory approval of the companies’ agreed merger transaction.

Shares of Albertsons rose more than 2% before the market open, while Kroger’s stock declined slightly.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.