OLYMPIA, Wash. – An antitrust lawsuit brought by the Washington Attorney General’s Office against a proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger was allowed to move forward by the King County Superior Court on Friday.
The lawsuit was initially leveled against the potential merger by Attorney General (AG) Bob Ferguson (D) in January.
“These are the two largest supermarkets in the state of Washington. This is where the majority of Washingtonians get their groceries. One thing I know is bad for workers and bad for consumers is a monopoly,” Ferguson said when announcing the lawsuit.
The AG’s office further explained the legal reasoning behind the suit on Friday.
“The proposed merger will eliminate head-to-head competition between the two largest grocery operators in the state…and they account for more than 50% of all supermarket sales in the state,” the AG’s office said.
Ferguson is running for the governor’s office and has touted his antitrust record throughout his campaign.
A new antitrust law requested by Ferguson’s office which tripled the penalty for violating the Consumer Protection Act was signed by Governor Jay Inslee (D) in late March and will go into effect this June.
