It has been learned from the Zhitong Finance and Economics APP that if the American grocery company Albertsons (ACI.US) fails to complete the merger with its competitor Kroger (KR.US), the company may face a gloomier future. Albertsons argues that it needs to expand its scale in order to better compete with Walmart (WMT.US), Amazon (AMZN.US), and Costco (COST.US).

According to data, in October 2022, Kroger announced the acquisition of Albertsons for 24.6 billion US dollars. This acquisition will create a new grocery store giant that operates thousands of stores across the United States and will become one of the largest employers in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of workers.

However, due to concerns about reduced market competition and harm to consumer rights, this transaction is facing legal litigation from regulatory agencies. In February of this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit to block this merger, stating that it would lead to higher prices for consumers. Eight states and the District of Columbia have also joined forces with regulatory agencies to block this transaction. The states of Colorado and Washington have also filed lawsuits in an attempt to terminate the merger agreement.

In April of this year, Albertsons and Kroger also stated that they would sell a total of 579 stores across the United States in order to alleviate concerns from regulatory agencies regarding the proposed merger, pass antitrust review smoothly, and ensure the healthy development of market competition.

Earlier this month, Kroger announced that after completing the merger with Albertsons, the company plans to lower prices for food and groceries and give back 1 billion US dollars to consumers. This number is twice as much as the company's previous commitment of 0.5 billion US dollars, and it aims to alleviate antitrust concerns regarding this merger.

Enu Mainigi, the lawyer for Albertsons, stated in the opening statement of the trial on Monday, 'If we do not have such a large scale, our achievements will be limited.' 'If Albertsons wants a chance to compete effectively on its own, it needs to fundamentally change its cost structure.'

Albertsons companies indicated that its measures may include layoffs, store closures, and/or exiting certain markets. Enu Mainigi added, "If the merger deal does not go through, these are all options on the table." "If albertsons companies is not successful with these measures, it is very likely to be sold to someone else."