NEW YORK — Albertsons gave up on its merger with Kroger and sued its rival grocery chain on Dec. 11, saying the Harris Teeter parent didn't do enough to secure regulatory approval for the $24.6 billion tie-up.
Kroger said that it disagreed "in the strongest possible terms." It said early Wednesday that Albertsons was responsible for "repeated intentional material breaches and interference throughout the merger process." The finger-pointing came a day after two judges halted the merger in separate court cases.
Kroger and Albertsons in 2022 proposed what would be the largest grocery store combination in U.S. history.
The companies said the deal would help them better compete with big retailers like Walmart, Costco and Amazon. Under the merger agreement, Kroger and Albertsons — who compete in 22 states but not South Carolina — agreed to sell 579 stores in places where their locations. But the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the merger earlier this year, saying it would raise prices and lower wages by eliminating competition.
It also said the divestiture plan was inadequate and that C&S was ill-equipped to take on so many stores. NEW YORK — Macy's profit and sales declined in the third quarter as the department store chain wrestled with cautious spending by customers, rising competition and sluggish demand for cold-weather goods. The company's full quarterly financial report was delayed after it discovered late last month that an employee intentionally hid as much .