Booker, Warren, Hirono, Sanders and Lawmakers Urge FTC to Block Kroger-Albertsons Merger and Reject Flawed Structural Remedies

"As Members of Congress have previously raised, structural and behavioral remedies are difficult to administer and enforce and cease to be binding once the term of the agreement ends, and they often fail to maintain competitive conditions because, as stated previously, companies have an incentive to ensure that the businesses they spin off do not succeed. Furthermore, they encourage companies to "litigate the fix' by proposing remedies during ongoing litigation in order to distract a judge's focus from the original antitrust violations of the merger. But in addition to these general concerns, past experience with Albertsons' structural remedies indicates that the new proposal will not cure the anticompetitive harms of the deal.

This merger will harm consumers, workers, farmers, and other food suppliers across the country, and the proposed divestiture will not resolve the concerns. We ask that the FTC should use its authority under the Clayton Act, the Sherman Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act to prevent the companies from merging"

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