Kroger calls Albertsons' claims in lawsuit ‘baseless'

The Kroger Co. has released a statement disputing a lawsuit filed by Albertsons Cos. Inc. that alleges Kroger willfully breached its contract and the covenant of good faith and fair dealing regarding a merger agreement. This comes after a U.S. district court blocked the proposed deal between the companies.

Kroger, which says the claims made by Albertsons in the lawsuit are without merit, further said in the statement:

“Kroger refutes these allegations in the strongest possible terms, especially in light of Albertsons' repeated intentional material breaches and interference throughout the merger process, which we will prove in court.

"This is clearly an attempt to deflect responsibility following Kroger's written notification of Albertsons' multiple breaches of the agreement, and to seek payment of the merger's break fee, to which they are not entitled.

"Kroger looks forward to responding to these baseless claims in court. We went to extraordinary lengths to uphold the merger agreement throughout the entirety of the regulatory process and the facts will make that abundantly clear.

"We are incredibly proud of the Kroger team for how they worked through the merger process with the highest degree of integrity and commitment.

"We are confident in Kroger's value creation model to drive sustainable growth. Kroger's Board of Directors is currently evaluating next steps that serve the best interests of Kroger's customers and associates and create value for shareholders.”

Your next read:

• U.S. court blocks Kroger’s $25B acquisition of Albertsons
• Albertsons sues Kroger for breach of merger agreement