The Rural Blog The planned $20 billion merger between Kroger and Albertsons was blocked by a federal judge who “agreed with the Federal Trade Commission’s argument that Kroger would become the dominant player in traditional supermarkets if allowed to add nearly 2,

Kroger’s $25 billion proposed takeover of rival Albertsons ultimately failed because two judges – one federal and the other from the state of Washington – didn’t buy the competitive vision the grocers were trying to sell,

Albertsons is giving up on its merger with Kroger a day after it was rejected in two courts and it is suing the chain, saying it didn’t do enough to secure regulatory approval of the $24.6B agreement.