FTC Clears Safeway-Albertsons Merger

By Brent Kendall 

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday cleared the merger of supermarket operators Safeway Inc. and Albertsons after the companies agreed to sell 168 stores to address the commission's competition concerns.

The merger, announced in March, was valued at about $9.4 billion. Safeway and Albertsons announced the store-divestiture plan last month.

The FTC said that without the store sales the merger would have lessened competition in 130 local markets in Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

The supermarket operators had argued that combining their distribution and purchasing efforts would produce cost savings that could be directed toward store improvements and lower prices. The deal would create a larger competitor to Kroger Co., the biggest U.S. grocery store chain.

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