01:00 PM EDT, 03/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Kroger Co. ( KR ) on Tuesday countersued Albertsons ( ACI ) , saying that the company should not receive a $600 million merger termination fee because its executives used a "secret and misguided campaign" to undermine the proposed business combination.

Albertsons ( ACI ) terminated the proposed merger on Dec. 10 and filed suit in Delaware Court of Chancery, alleging that Kroger ( KR ) "willfully" tried to scuttle the transaction by ignoring input from anti-trust regulators and refusing to divest sufficient assets to allow the deal to proceed.

In its counterclaim, Kroger ( KR ) rejected those assertions, saying that while it was working diligently to close the merger, Albertsons ( ACI ) was engaged with C&S Wholesale Grocers, the divestiture buyer, to pursue its own regulatory strategy, which ultimately undermined Kroger's ( KR ) efforts.

Kroger's ( KR ) counterclaim also asserts Albertsons ( ACI ) had developed a "Plan B" to "sue Kroger ( KR ) in the event the merger failed to close, by manufacturing a paper-trail over many months including unfounded allegations."

Albertsons ( ACI ) and C&S Wholesale Grocers did not immediately respond to a request from MT Newswires seeking comment on Tuesday.

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