Kroger to merge with Albertsons?

[jamcool]

Supposedly the divested stores will be placed in a company temporarily called “SpinCo”

[TW-Upstate NY]

BAD BAD BAD BAD So glad that the possibility of Albertson's buying Price Chopper a few years back NEVER got past the talking stages. And yes with interest rates on the way up not exactly the smartest thing for Kroger to be doing putting all of that debt on their books.

[CalItalian]

I have little confidence in FTC under Biden Administration, or any other administration in the past 20 years. Heck, remember 7-Eleven and Speedway completed their merger WITHOUT FTC approval... basically picked what they wanted to divest, did their merger, told FTC to pound sand. FTC ultimately said case closed.

That deal did span two administrations. Announced in August 2020, closed in May 2021. This one won't.

Rite Aid, Walgreens weren't allowed to merge. Although later they came back with a smaller group of stores to be sold which was approved. Many of those stores have since been shut down.

Rite Aid, Albertsons wouldn't have been allowed to merge. Wall St. didn't like the deal either and that was the ultimate reason why it was called off.

[CalItalian]

Supposedly the divested stores will be placed in a company temporarily called “SpinCo”

If I'm reading into this correctly, it looks like Albertsons assets will be the only ones that will be spun.
https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/n ... nce-merger

"SpinCo would comprise between 100-375 stores, which would create a new, agile competitor."

This p.r. spin won't work - uniting the chains is part of "Kroger's Purpose to Feed the Human Spirit"

[reymann]

suppose this merger goes through, i could see the majority of the central coast and bakersfield stores remaining intact in socal but, for the rest of socal i could see stater bros gobbling up the divested vons/albertsons stores in socal.

[cw06]

Supposedly the divested stores will be placed in a company temporarily called “SpinCo”

If I'm reading into this correctly, it looks like Albertsons assets will be the only ones that will be spun.
https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/n ... nce-merger

It looks like they're trying to get ahead of the FTC. There should be no issues if the duplicate stores have already been spun off by the time the deal closes.

This p.r. spin won't work - uniting the chains is part of "Kroger's Purpose to Feed the Human Spirit"

SpinCo will probably implode immediately, and it's parts get scooped up by regional chains.

[CalItalian]

suppose this merger goes through, i could see the majority of the central coast and bakersfield stores remaining intact in socal but, for the rest of socal i could see stater bros gobbling up the divested vons/albertsons stores in socal.

California Attorney General won't see it that way.

Stater Bros. has shown little to no interest outside their current footprint.

[reymann]

suppose this merger goes through, i could see the majority of the central coast and bakersfield stores remaining intact in socal but, for the rest of socal i could see stater bros gobbling up the divested vons/albertsons stores in socal.

California Attorney General won't see it that way.

Stater Bros. has shown little to no interest outside their current footprint.

maybe raley's could have interest to take a gamble on socal and reenter vegas.

[CalItalian]

They're expecting a very lengthy review. So am I.

"The transaction is expected to close in early 2024, subject to regulatory clearance and other closing conditions."

I hope they like double digit interest rates. That's what they'll see by then.

[retailfanmitchell019]

I've thought more about this deal. Without repeating much of what has already been said I am trying to figure out WHAT is possibly positive about this deal to the consumer...

I can't come up with much of anything here that will help the consumer. This just seems like a terrible merger.

What it comes down to is Albertsons has obviously failed, AGAIN. Rather than fix their operation they are wanting the easy way out, AGAIN. And their plan is going to basically lead to a break up/split up that will likely seem very similar to 2006, AGAIN. Of course following the path of Safeway they failed... how could following the footsteps of a chain that failed have worked? As the old Albertsons LLC slogan went "new ideas at work" - that is what they needed. NOT Safeway ideas.

My guess is this time, Kroger is the Supervalu (taking the so called "better" assets- the ones that don't already compete with Kroger). What happens to the supposedly poor assets (the ones that already compete with Kroger, largely)... is anyone's guess. Though we have a new twist this time of what I'd call "so so" assets (such as the Southwest division or the Seattle division) that compete with Kroger and will need to be divested.

The union and politicians can cry all they want. They can speak out against the merger. If the company wants to sell that bad, it will only get worse. What if the company takes one of those poor performing divisions and announces a Dominick's or a Genuardi's (everyone is fired, fast forward a few years and multiple stores sold to/reopened by non-union operators) and says well since we couldn't complete the merger we have to cease operations of poorly performing assets, had we completed the merger thousands of Union jobs would have been saved.

I have little confidence in FTC under Biden Administration, or any other administration in the past 20 years. Heck, remember 7-Eleven and Speedway completed their merger WITHOUT FTC approval... basically picked what they wanted to divest, did their merger, told FTC to pound sand. FTC ultimately said case closed.

If it weren't for converting Lucky (a chain known for low prices), if it weren't for the ill-advised acquisition of Shaw's, if the company kept Joe Albertson's ideals, if they didn't get a reckless guy from GE to run Albertsons (Jack Welch's reckless management style influenced GE people running Home Depot and Chrysler, which both saw profits fall. Jack Welch's style was putting shareholders first, which is a bad strategy that Larry implemented), Old Albertsons would still be alive.
Now that this merger with Kroger is happening, this is truly a new low for Albertsons, when you think they can't go even lower. As I've said, Kroger has taken Ralphs downhill. Ralphs has lost its identity in the past 10 years. It is now a Kroger with the sign out front saying "Ralphs".
The acquisition of Safeway was a big mistake. Albertsons should've stayed on its own and acquired the private label from SuperValu. SuperValu should've merged with C&S or gone private.
I honestly think that this deal would make the SVU era Albertsons look like when Joe ran the stores. It is that bad. Once this merger closes, I will switch to locally-owned Stater Bros. for my weekly grocery shopping.
Andrew T., another RetailWatcher, is living in paradise when it comes to grocery options in Canada. Walmart hasn't terrorized the grocery industry up there. I blame politicians in both parties for allowing Walmart to terrorize the American grocery industry and screw everything up.

I think Target should've acquired Albertsons. There has been rumors on and off over the years of Target and Albertsons merging. Even Tesco would've been a better acquirer. Why not give them a second chance, what the hell do we have to lose?
At least Eddie Lampert isn't buying Albertsons.

We need Hy-Vee or Publix to expand out here.