April 22 (Reuters) - Kroger ( KR ) and Albertsons Cos ( ACI )

on Monday amended the asset sale agreement with C&S

Wholesale Grocers to include an extra 166 stores in a bid to get

regulatory approval for their proposed $25 billion merger.

C&S will pay Kroger ( KR ) an all-cash consideration of about $2.9

billion, up from the previous payout of $1.9 billion.

With the inclusion of the additional 166 stores, the

updated divestiture package will see a total of 579 stores being

sold and operated by the new owner, C&S.

Kroger ( KR ) and Albertsons ( ACI ) have been looking to offload stores to

address regulatory concerns that have risen since they first

announced the merger in October 2022.

In February, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and eight

states sued to block the deal, saying it would boost grocery

prices for millions of Americans.

Under the amended agreement, Kroger ( KR ) will also sell the

Haggen banner to C&S.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by

Anil D'Silva and Tasim Zahid)