WVXU: How Kroger’s purchase of Albertson Co. could impact consumers

UC Law professor offers thoughts and antitrust law expertise

Felix Chang, professor and co-director of the Corporate Law Center at the UC Law, discusses the potential impact of a merger between Kroger Co. and Albertson Co. during a segment with WVXU’s Cincinnati Edition. Kroger is the second larger grocery retailer in the nation while Alberston’s is the fourth largest. 

Their merger is set for completion by January 2024, but the deal still faces regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges regarding potential antitrust issues. The two companies owned nearly 5,000 grocery stores combined across the nation. The impact could be substantial for consumers. 

“What you worry about when you have a merger of this size is two fold,” Chang told WVXU listeners. “One is that you have a market that has one less significant competitor and so got few competitors and they is a greater propensity for some kind of anti-competitive conduct in violation of the Sherman Act. You also worry about a successor who has greater market power and can unilaterally raise prices.”

Listen to the WVXU interview online.

Learn more about Felix Chang, professor of law at the University of Cincinnati

Featured top image: Kroger grocery closest to the UC campus. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand.

Related Stories

3065 Results
5

UC Day of Giving a success

April 28, 2021

University of Cincinnati Day of Giving’s 24-hour challenge was a tremendous success this year, raising $2,219,197 with 3,232 gifts. The fourth annual UC Day of Giving raised its most money to date with alumni, donors, students, faculty and staff joining together to support UC and UC Health.

7

'To make him proud was high on her list'

April 1, 2021

Alex Lewis lost her 82-year-old grandfather to Covid-19 just five weeks before her dream school showed up on the front steps of Roger Bacon High School to tell the senior that she has been admitted to the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing as part of a touching Decision Day surprise effort this year.

8

Cincinnati Law welcomes the world

May 17, 2019

The University of Cincinnati College of Law has fewer than 400 students, but some travel thousands of miles around the globe to enroll.