Both the Kroger Company and Albertsons Corporation have filed rebuttals to the Federal Trade Commission move to block the proposed merger.

Albertsons maintains that the FTC is “willfully ignorant of basic and critical facts” and the Commission ignores the “realities of the competitive grocery landscape”.  In the Albertsons submission, the company cited extreme competition from Walmart, Target, Costco and Amazon.

The rebuttals also claim that C&S will be capable of successfully managing the stores to be divested.  The companies note that labor in their stores is both non-union and union affiliated and that the merger would not dilute the power of unions.

It is a matter of fact that the FTC embarked on an extensive nine-month evaluation of the grocery market interviewing suppliers, consumer groups and unions in addition to inviting submissions from both Kroger and Albertsons.  To claim that the FTC based its decision on distortion and ignorance would appear to be an inappropriate and unproductive approach in advance of the review by an FTC administrative law judge.

Judge Andrew Luxen of the Denver District Court has announced that the preliminary injunction preventing the merger between Albertsons Corporation and the Kroger Company would be heard on August 12^th and the proceedings will run through the 22^nd.  The State of Colorado filed the lawsuit on February 14^th and is joined by the Attorneys General of eight states and Washington, D.C.

The Kroger-Albertsons merger agreement was due to have been concluded on October 9^th.  The reality of prolonged litigation will necessitate an extension since a cancellation appears unlikely.