Jim Burns was recently quoted in a Grocery Dive article entitled "Will the Kroger-Albertsons deal get past regulators?"
The article discussed the Kroger-Albertsons deal and whether or not it will likely face scrutiny from antitrust regulators.
Jim commented that federal antitrust enforcers have shown a significant interest in challenging proposed mergers under the Biden administration, and that the FTC, which is likely to be the agency that will review the Kroger-Albertson’s transaction, is likely to carefully consider whether the merging parties’ offer to divest some stores to gain regulatory approval resolves any potential competitive issues. Jim also noted that the DOJ Antitrust Division recently lost a merger challenge where the reviewing court failed to accept the government’s contention that a proposed divestiture offered by the merging parties in that case was insufficient to ensure future competition, permitting that transaction to close over the objection of the DOJ.
To read the full article, click here.