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US: FTC supermarkets required to sell stores as a condition of $9.2 billion merger

By  |  January 27, 2015

Supermarket operators Albertsons and Safeway Inc. have agreed to sell 168 supermarkets to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their proposed $9.2 billion merger would likely be anticompetitive.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Albertsons and Safeway compete vigorously on the bases of price, quality, product variety, and services. Without a remedy, according to the FTC, the acquisition will lessen supermarket competition to the detriment of consumer.

Also under the proposed settlement, the divestitures to Haggen must be completed within 150 days of the date of the merger.

Full Content: Reuters

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