Kroger’s $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons temporarily halted

The $24.6 billion plan for Fry’s Food Stores parent Kroger Co. to acquire rival Albertsons — and sell off scores of Arizona grocery stores — has run into a major hurdle.

The acquisition was delayed by Denver District Court Judge Andrew Luxen, who during a July 25 hearing granted a preliminary injunction and scheduled a trial that is scheduled to begin September 30 and is expected to last two weeks. In doing so, Luxen canceled a hearing that had been set for Aug. 12. Both companies agreed to the delay.

The acquisition would merge Albertsons — which owns Safeway stores in Arizona — into Kroger — the owner of Fry’s and Smiths stores in the Grand Canyon State.

A total of 73 Safeway and Albertsons stores in the Phoenix metro are on a list of 101 Arizona locations set to be divested under the merger to New Hampshire-based C&S Wholesale Grocers. That total in Arizona is a substantial increase from what was originally set at 24 grocery stores in the Valley. The previous deal was to sell 413 stores nationwide, but in April Kroger announced it had bumped that number up to 579 stores.

This story is posted in partnership with Phoenix Business Journal. Click to read the full story.