Kroger-Albertsons divestiture team tackles regulatory challenge

Christine P. Bartholomew was quoted in Axios about the proposed merger of grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons. Proposals are being floated both on the federal and state side to change up the threshold for merger approval, but also on the data gathering around mergers, says Bartholomew, who studies antitrust law and consumer protection. “If you’ve got a company that says: ‘Look, we’re aware that there are some consequences. We thought about it ahead of time and already have a plan that puts us strategically in a negotiation posture against a regulator’ is a much better posture than saying, ‘we promised there’s no problem,’” she says.