C&S Wholesale Grocers sues Kroger 

C&S Wholesale Grocers BB #:137315 is suing Kroger BB #:100073 for refusing to pay a $125 million termination fee after the Kroger-Albertsons merger deal fell through. 

“Kroger failed to identify any reason for its refusal to pay the termination fee it owed C&S — because there is none,” C&S said in its suit filed in Delaware state court, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A Kroger spokesperson told WSJ the lawsuit was baseless and C&S had forfeited its right to the fee. Kroger provided no details as to how C&S forfeited the payment but said the distributor has no reasonable claim to any damages. 

In December, Albertsons BB #:193326 filed a lawsuit for breach of merger agreement, saying Kroger owes it a $600 million termination fee and additional relief, “Reflecting the multiple years and hundreds of millions of dollars it devoted to obtaining approval for the merger, along with extended period of unnecessary limbo Albertsons endured as a result of Kroger’s actions.”   

C&S agreed to acquire nearly 600 stores that would be divested if the merger was approved. However, C&S executives weren’t happy with the store selection they were offered, according to court documents. C&S said it believed it would compete more effectively with well-known banners such as Safeway, Vons, or Jewel-Osco, but instead was being offered what it considered lesser banners in Haggen, Mariano’s, QFC, and Carr’s.