Talks about selling stores to C&S Wholesale as part of merger

Kroger and Albertsons could be close to selling an undisclosed number to C&S Wholesale Grocers, as a means towards cinching regulatory approval for the two companies’  $24.6 billion merger deal, according to reporting by Bloomberg. 

The deal value and the number of stores included in the transaction could not be immediately learned.

C&S lost one of its largest customers, Ahold Delhaize, when the supermarket group decided to transition to self-distribution in 2019. C&S can help offset that loss through acquisitions.

Bloomberg News, which first reported the talks, said that C&S could announce the deal to acquire most or all of the stores that the supermarket operators are unloading for antitrust reasons as soon as this week.

Announced last fall, the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger would be one of the largest retail takeovers in history. The deal would give Cincinnati-based Kroger almost 5,000 stores and more than 700,000 workers before an undetermined number of store divestitures. The two companies have vowed not to close stores or layoff workers, but the unions and other critics are skeptical.

Kroger and Albertsons could be close to selling an undisclosed number to C&S Wholesale Grocers, as a means towards cinching regulatory approval for the two companies’  $24.6 billion merger deal, according to reporting by Bloomberg. 

It has been speculated that both Kroger and Albertsons would have to divest stores in order to appease antitrust regulators. Kroger and Albertsons initially outlined the potential sale of 100 to 375 stores, but have since disclosed they would cap divested stores at 650 locations. , C&S intends to acquire “most or all of the stores” they are unloading for antitrust reasons.  C&S lost one of its largest grocery customers, Ahold Delhaize, when the company transitioned to self-distribution in 2019. Acquisitions could help C&S offset that loss, according to Reuters.  The Keene, N.H.-based C&S, which made $30 billion in revenue in 2022, supplies over 7,500 grocery stores across the country. The wholesaler also owns a small number of grocery stores, including 11 Grand Union stores in New York and Vermont and several Piggly Wiggly locations in Wisconsin and the Southeast. Consumer and union groups have opposed the deal, claiming it would hurt competition and ultimately raise prices and harm workers. Regulators have declined to comment as they decide whether to block it. Kroger executives have vowed to fight for the deal in court.

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Sarah H

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