Hearing to review $24.6B grocery store merger impact

“The OHA is reviewing this planned transaction to understand how it might affect pharmacy services in Oregon,” the release states.

OHA has convened a community review board. This board is hosting a public hearing from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24. The public hearing will:

• Provide information about the transaction and OHA’s review;

• Allow representatives from Kroger and Albertsons to provide testimony and answer questions;

• Allow members of the public to provide comments.

To register for the public hearing, visit the OHA’s website.

Background

Kroger and Albertsons are the nation’s two largest grocery chains. In Oregon, the two corporations operate 176 stores, serving nearly every community in the state. Kroger operates 51 Fred Meyer and four QFC stores, while Albertsons operates 96 Safeway and 25 Albertsons stores.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum has joined the Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from across the nation in acting to block the proposed $24.6 billion Kroger-Albertsons grocery chain merger.

“If big grocery stores are allowed to reduce competition this way,” Rosenblum said, “they can charge higher prices for food for no good reason and reduce services, including in their pharmacies. They can also slow the growth of employees’ wages, or even reduce some of those wages. Working conditions and employee benefits can suffer, as well. In short, there’s no good for consumers or workers in this proposed merger — and lots of bad.”

Oregon Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission investigators found compelling evidence that direct, head-to-head competition between Kroger and Albertsons has forced the two chains to compete vigorously against one another, both on price and on the quality of goods and services offered at their stores, according to Rosenblum.

Oregon, the FTC, and the other AGs filed to enjoin the merger in U.S. District Court in Portland following a vote by FTC commissioners Feb. 26.

It is the result of thorough investigations by the FTC and the states into the proposed merger’s anticipated effects, Rosenbaum said in a statement.

“We are doing this to protect Oregon consumers and workers,” she said. “We believe this proposed merger would hurt both, and we’re doing our part to prevent it from going forward.”