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Albertsons abandons $25 billion merger with Kroger after judge blocks deal
Albertsons on Wednesday called off its $24.6 billion merger with Kroger, a day after a judge temporarily blocked the union, and sued the rival grocery chain for breach of contract.
“Given the recent federal and state court decisions to block our proposed merger with Kroger, we have made the difficult decision to terminate the merger agreement,” Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran said in a statement. “We are deeply disappointed in the courts’ decisions.”
In a separate statement issued Wednesday, Albertsons said it is suing Kroger for willful breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Albertsons alleges that Kroger failed “to exercise ‘best efforts’ and to take ‘any and all actions’ to secure regulatory approval of the companies’ agreed merger transaction, as was required of Kroger under the terms of the merger agreement between the parties,” according to the statement.
In an email to CBS News, Kroger called Albertsons’ claims “baseless and without merit.”
“Kroger refutes these allegations in the strongest possible terms, especially in light of Albertsons’ repeated intentional material breaches and interference throughout the merger process,” a spokesperson told CBS News.
—This is a breaking story and will be updated.
CBS News
Trump chooses Kari Lake as director for Voice of America
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has tapped Kari Lake as director of the government-funded Voice of America, the nation’s largest international broadcaster.
The move comes after the 55-year-old Lake lost her Arizona Senate bid to Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in November.
“She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon,” Trump said in a post to his Truth Social platform.
Lake, a former longtime TV news anchor in Phoenix, is a fierce Trump loyalist who also lost her campaign for Arizona governor in 2022. During her campaigns, she often echoed Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.
Voice of America, which is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, broadcasts news internationally in 49 languages on radio, television and online to an audience of an estimated 354 million people per week, according to its website.
It has about 2,000 employees and an annual budget of approximately $260 million.
Lake’s appointment must still be confirmed by the Senate.
During Trump’s first term in 2020, USAGM’s editorial independence came into question after Trump named Michael Pack — a conservative filmmaker and close ally of one-time Trump adviser Steve Bannon — its CEO.
Pack subsequently made the decision not to renew the visas of 10 VOA journalists and dozens of others who work at networks under USAGM, increasing concerns by members of Congress and the international community alike over the potential of diminished editorial independence of the VOA news outlet.
John Lippman is currently the acting director of VOA, a post he’s held since October 2023, while Amanda Bennett is CEO of USAGM.
contributed to this report.
CBS News
UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing prompts polarized response
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Bill Hennessy, veteran courtroom sketch artist, dies at 67
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