By Brent Kendall
WASHINGTON--The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday cleared
the merger of supermarket operators Safeway Inc. and Albertsons
after the companies agreed to sell 168 stores to address the
commission's competition concerns.
The merger, announced in March, was valued at about $9.4
billion. Safeway and Albertsons announced the store-divestiture
plan last month.
The FTC said that without the store sales the merger would have
lessened competition in 130 local markets in Arizona, California,
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.
The supermarket operators had argued that combining their
distribution and purchasing efforts would produce cost savings that
could be directed toward store improvements and lower prices. The
deal would create a larger competitor to Kroger Co., the biggest
U.S. grocery store chain.
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Access Investor Kit for Safeway, Inc.
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http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US7865142084
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