Next, she saw through the divestiture plan, saying there is "ample evidence" it won't be able to compete in scale "and is structured in a way that will significantly disadvantage C&S." Its "deficiencies" risk "some or all of the divested stores will lose sales or close," like previous C&S deals.

She also didn't buy K+A's promise to lower prices, noting it's not "legally binding" and "the Court must give limited weight to a non-binding promise." She also said there is nothing stopping the companies from making the same investment without a merger.

Regulators say this is also a win for consumers. The effectively judge agreed, noting that a combination of the #2 and #4 grocery chains would reduce competition, therefore lessoning incentive for the company to lower prices.

A federal judge in Oregon blocked Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of grocery rival Albertsons on Tuesday, marking the possible end of what would have been the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history.

And here's Target. The biggest takeaway? We all want discounts and value. So much so that we're trading down to cheaper retailers and holding off on discretionary buying until we can get the best discount. This is hurting Target way more than its chief rival.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...