Kroger sues FTC over in-house review of $25B grocery deal that ‘could take years’
Kroger sued the Federal Trade Commission on Monday, seeking to block the regulator from reviewing the grocery chain’s proposed $25 billion merger with smaller rival Albertsons in its in-house tribunal.
Kroger called the tribunal unconstitutional, saying the matter should be resolved in a federal court.
The lawsuit filed in Cincinnati comes a week before the company is scheduled to face a trial where the FTC has asked a federal judge in Portland, Ore., to temporarily block the merger while its in-house judges review the deal.
The FTC said in a lawsuit filed in February that the deal will raise prices for millions of Americans and squeeze the labor market for unionized grocery store workers.
That in-house review could take years, Kroger said in the lawsuit.
Kroger Chairman Rodney McMullen said in a statement that the company is “prepared to defend this merger in the upcoming trial in federal court the appropriate venue for this matter to be heard.”
“We are asking the court to halt what amounts to an unlawful proceeding before the FTC’s own in-house tribunal,” he said.
A spokesperson for the FTC declined to comment.
