Albertsons seeks nine billion dollars over failed Kroger merger

Albertsons told Delaware Chancery Court on Monday that Kroger should pay more than $9.3 billion over the collapse of their $24.6 billion grocery merger, including the premium stockholders lost, a $600 million termination fee and $75 million in interest and costs.

Why it matters: The demand sets the stakes for a two week trial later this month over who bears blame for the largest US grocery merger ever blocked, with Cerberus, Albertsons' largest shareholder at more than 30 percent, the main beneficiary if it wins.

Data as of Monday, October 12, 2026. Bloomberg Law report opened and read in full, based on Albertsons' Delaware Chancery Court filing; Kroger had no immediate comment on the filing. Developing item, 2 to 3 sentences by design.

Albertsons argues Kroger breached the merger agreement by failing to use its best efforts to win regulatory approval, including refusing to change a store divestiture plan that a federal court found insufficient when it blocked the deal in December 2024. Kroger has said it did everything it could to secure approval and has accused Albertsons of undermining the divestiture proposal with regulators.

The filing turns on contract language under which Kroger agreed to remove antitrust obstacles, short of divesting more than 650 stores. The trial before Judge Lori Will will decide whether that commitment was honoured or whether Kroger held to its own profit targets at the expense of approval.

Albertsons seeks nine billion dollars over failed Kroger merger

Sources