Business | Fodder for the FTC

Kroger, America’s second-biggest grocer, goes shopping

Its acquisition of Albertsons faces antitrust scrutiny

A shopper loads items into a vehicle outside of a Kroger Co. supermarket in Sterling, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. Kroger will sell its convenience-store business to EG Group for $2.15 billion, giving a British retailer an entry into the U.S. with stores such as Tom Thumb, Loaf 'N Jug and Kwik Shop. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Oct 20th 2022

Grocery is a boring business. Peddling bread-and-butter products (literally) at wafer-thin margins hardly sets pulses racing. Unless, that is, you are an American politician. On October 18th Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, two senators, called a hearing to discuss the proposed acquisition by Kroger, America’s second-biggest grocer by revenues, of Albertsons, the fourth-largest. The top Democrat and Republican, respectively, on the Senate antitrust subcommittee also sent a letter urging the Federal Trade Commission (ftc) to size up the $25bn deal, which they say “raises considerable antitrust concerns”.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Fodder for the FTC”