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Supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons have agreed to sell over 160 additional stores in a divestiture package in a bid to appease competition regulators and close their long-pending merger, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The companies announced Monday that they would sell just under 580 stores as part of the revised deal. Albertsons and Kroger announced last fall that they would sell stores and other assets to C&S Wholesale Grocers to cool regulatory concerns about their merger—the largest supermarket deal in history.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed to block Kroger’s $25 billion acquisition of Albertsons, arguing that the combination would lead to higher food prices and hurt workers’ bargaining power.
Albertsons operates 16 stores in Louisiana, including seven supermarkets in Baton Rouge. Kroger operates multiple stores in Louisiana, including in Alexandria, Lake Charles, Sulpher, Bossier City and Shreveport.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated since original publication.
