Manatt Antitrust and Competition Partner Dylan Carson was quoted in a Global Competition Review article discussing Albertsons’ lawsuit against Kroger following the court’s blocking of their merger.
According to the article, Albertsons sued Kroger for a $600 million termination fee for not providing the divest assets needed to gain approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), resulting in the FTC and state of Washington halting their merger. With many similarities to the failed merger lawsuit between Anthem and Cigna—which ended with rejection of both insurers’ efforts to recover damages—this case could have similar resolutions if the companies take their dispute to trial. “I suspect they’ll go the distance – each side has hundreds of millions of dollars in incentive to litigate the breakup fee and the merits of their duelling allegations of breaches of their contract,” Carson said.
Global Competition Review subscribers can read the full article here.