[Music] jump all around jump all around around stop cop get up [Music] he now on [Music] hey guys uh this is JDT Fridays fan 97 here and today on this uh on this uh on with in this video I'm going to talk about the uh the history of of the proposed acquisition of Kroger and Albertson's that that happen so far according to Wikipedia The Kroger Albertson's acquisition is a planned acquisition between the two America grocery chains which serve most of the country's mid-tier grocery Market Kroger and Albertson's Kroger plans to compete with nonunion grocery chain Amazon Fresh which includes Whole Foods discount department store chains Target and Walmart and Warehouse Club retail chains Costco and Sam's Club announced in October 2022 Kroger one of the largest Supermarket chains in the United States agreed to purchase Albert turns for $24.6 billion this merger if approved approved would create one of the largest grocery store chains in the US combining nearly 5,000 stores and employing approximately 700,000 people Albertson's merged with Safeway in 2015 and a $9.2 billion deal which include an FTC requirement to spin off 168 stores to stop the new company having a monopoly in certain markets the commitment was the largest ever diversit toe of supermarkets at the time 146 stores were sold to Hagen a Washington supermarket chain for around $300 million the deal was closed in 2015 Hagen end up announcing in August that it would close or sell around a fifth of its stores and in September sued Albertson for allegedly seating its expansion before filing for bankruptcy Albertson's bought 33 former Hagen stores for 14 .3 million at a bankruptcy auction in November many for the normal price of a dollar since they came with liabilities as part of their sale the failure of the spin-off of sto of stores to Hagen has been a seen a particular concern for the proposed Albertson's Kroger merger in October 2022 Kroger agreed to buy Albertson for 3410 cents per share valuing the deal at 24.6 billion the acquisition aims to enhance Kroger's Competitive Edge by expanding its Market presence and leveraging econom economic economics of scale to offer better prices and service to customers however the merger has faced significant scrunch te from regulars and opposition from various stakeholders in May 2023 the UFCW International announced their opposition to the deal the International Brotherhood of teamsters also opposed A Deal saying it threatens jobs wages and benefits for thousands of workers the F the Federal Trade Commission FTC and several State Attorneys General have raised concerns about the potential anti-competitive effects of the merger the FTC filed a lawsuit in February 2024 to block the acquisition arguing that it would reduce competition leading to higher higher grocery prices and negatively impact workers wages and benefits Additionally the state attorney general for Washington filed a separate lawsuit CI sitting internal Communications for Albert from Albertson's Executives that question the legally and consumer benefits of the deal on November 29th 2022 the chief Executives of the two companies went before the antitrust panel of the Senate J judice Judiciary Committee to defend the merger as of mid 2024 the acquisition is still under review by federal and state Regulators Regulators ongoing negotiations and legal challenges have delayed the comp the completion of a deal with a final decision expected by mid August of 2024 in January 2024 Bob Ferguson and Washington attorney general filed a lawsuit to stop the merger in February 2024 Phil wiser the Colorado attorney general filed a lawsuit an attempt to stop the merger due to his belief that it would greatly reduce competition and harm Colorado to address regularly concerns Kroger and Albertson have proposed divers divesting 579 stores across various locations to CNS Wholesale grocers this div div vitude is intended to maintain competitive balance in the grocery market and elevated fears of a monopoly anyways guys I hope you enjoy this uh little story of this of this proposed merger of Kroger and Albertson's so yeah and and please don't forget to like comment subscribe and hit that notification Bell so you won't miss any of my updates on my channel and don't and please join don't forget to join my Facebook group by going to the link in the description below and also follow me on Facebook Twitter follow me on Facebook Instagram threads X Discord twitch Tick Tock Odyssey Twi and deant art so yeah so yeah thanks for watching until next time JDT Fridays isane keep enjoying Fridays and this is and JDT Fridays fan 97 saying keep enjoying Fridays so yeah JDT Fridays f97 signing off and keep enjoying Fridays bye