Is Alberton’S Failing In The Absence Of A Rite Aid Merger?

Rite Aid and Albertsons have canceled their nearly six-month-old merger agreement, which came on the night before Rite Aid shareholders were scheduled to vote on the transaction. The move came as Albertsons has sharply reduced its debt in the 2013 reunion and the 2015 merger. The Federal Trade Commission is trying to stop the merger.

Rite Aid executives are campaigning to win over skeptical shareholders for their merger with grocery store chain Albertsons. A recent report by The Wall Street Journal highlighted Rite Aid’s approximately 20 fall since the company said it would merge with grocery chain Albertsons Cos., suggesting that the dip could be due to deteriorating retail pharmacy.

Individual Shareholder Services Inc (ISS) had suggested that Rite Aid investors should vote down its $24 billion merger with Albertsons, saying the disengaged merger partners will have to go it alone with strategic plans already in place. Rite Aid shares plunged Thursday as the company headed into an uncertain future after calling off its proposed merger with the grocer Albertsons. Albertsons said it disagreed with the view that the U.S. grocer was not offering sufficient merger consideration to the shareholders of Rite Aid.

The merger’s terms have not been changed by the retailer, and Rite Aid’s stock rose more than 2 in after-hours trading. A lawsuit by Washington state to block a proposed $25 billion merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons is getting some qualified kudos from legal experts.