Kroger-Albertsons deal blocked by federal judge

A federal judge sided with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in its bid to halt a merger between grocery store giants Kroger (KR) and Albertsons (ACI). The companies had agreed to sell some of their stores to C&S Wholesale to help alleviate some of the FTC's concerns, but US District Judge Adrienne Nelson writes "There is ample evidence that the divestiture is not sufficient in scale to adequately compete with the merged firm and is structured in a way that will significantly disadvantage C&S as a competitor."