Kroger and Albertson are fighting the Federal Trade commission's attempt to block the largest Supermarket merger in US history and starting today a federal judge in Portland is hearing both sides of the argument the FTC is requesting a preliminary injunction to delay the deal Federal Regulators argue that nearly $25 billion merger is an anti-competitive and would lead to higher grocery prices for consumers Kroger says that's not the case and pledge to lower prices after the merger the retailers say joining forces is necessary to better compete with with grocery Rivals like Walmart Amazon and Costco that hearing is expected to last inel midt scared