Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Tech: Is Big Grocery Next?
A Kroger-Albertsons merger would create a supermarket behemoth. But the grocery giant would still be No. 2 in the U.S. market, trailing Walmart.
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The proposed merger of Kroger (KR) and Albertsons (ACI) would create a national powerhouse, but it wouldn’t dominate grocery retailing.
The deal would result in a conglomerate with stores in almost all 50 states. That scale would be great for Kroger and Albertsons shareholders, industry observers say. But even after the merger—assuming it’s approved by regulators—the grocery-selling crown will remain with Walmart (WMT).
“For the companies themselves, the biggest benefit is that it’s really going to give Kroger and Albertsons an opportunity to step back and take a look at their entire organizations,” retail and supply-chain consultant Brittain Ladd told Luckbox.
He said a Kroger-Albertsons mashup would enable the combined...
