California, states seek $10.3 million for helping block Kroger-Albertsons merger

By Jody Godoy

April 1 (Reuters) - California and a group of states are seeking $10.3 million in fees and costs for helping block the Kroger-Albertsons merger, a bid that would refill the state's coffers as it emerges as a major player in U.S. antitrust enforcement.

Of that amount, California would recoup $5.1 million as it forges ahead in some antitrust cases without the usual help of federal antitrust enforcers. U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson in Portland, Oregon, has already ruled the states are entitled to recoup fees and costs, but has not set the amount.

California is leading a bipartisan effort to block Nexstar's NXST.O $3.54 billion ‌acquisition of Tegna TGNA.N after the U.S. Department of Justice declined to challenge the deal. The District of Columbia and the eight states seeking fees are also pressing ahead with a case against Live Nation LYV.N after the DOJ settled mid-trial.

California is investigating Paramount Skydance's PSKY.O proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O, which the DOJ is also probing.

The request highlights how cost-intensive it is for states to challenge mergers. The states spent less by working alongside the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, they said in papers filed in Oregon federal court.

The FTC and the states prevailed in their case in 2024, when Nelson in Portland ruled to block the $25 billion deal that the states said would have been the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history.

The state of Washington filed its own challenge, resulting in a separate state court order blocking the merger. The state was ultimately awarded $28.4 million in fees and expenses.

But deep-pocketed companies spare no expense in defending their deals. Kroger KR.N and Albertsons ACI.N reported a combined $1.5 billion in merger-related costs. An unknown portion of those costs went toward hiring more than 60 defense attorneys at eight law firms, including some lawyers who bill at more than $1,625 per hour, the states said.

Spokespeople for Kroger and Albertsons did not immediately respond to requests for comment.