A shopper walks out of Shaw’s at Northgate Plaza in Portland in February. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer, file

Court battles are heating up to block the merger of grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons, owner of 19 Shaw’s supermarkets in Maine.

The nation’s largest supermarket operators pushed back Tuesday against the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to stop Kroger’s proposed $24.6 billion takeover of Albertsons, asking a U.S. District Court in Oregon to deny the agency’s recent motion for a preliminary injunction.

How the merger would affect Shaw’s customers and employees is unclear, although Kroger has promised no stores will close as a result of a deal that company officials say would benefit consumers and workers alike.

Federal regulators contend that the grocery merger – the largest proposed in U.S. history – would eliminate competition and further widespread consolidation in the U.S. supermarket industry, resulting in higher prices for millions of consumers and reduced wages and benefits for workers.

The FTC disputes Kroger’s claim that the takeover will keep stores open, preserve jobs, and improve pay and benefits, or that it will lower prices and increase food choices for shoppers amid growing competition from Walmart, Amazon, Costco and other major rivals.

“The proposed merger is unlikely to result in any meaningful offsetting benefits to consumers, workers or the public in general,” the federal agency said in its motion filed Aug. 2.

In its response to the court Tuesday, Kroger said the FTC failed to show that an injunction is permissible or warranted under the Clayton Act, a federal law designed to promote fair competition and business practices.

“This is a fiercely competitive and rapidly changing industry,” Kroger said in a statement. “Kroger must expand, adapt, and most importantly, continue to lower prices to compete with global behemoths.”

The case is scheduled for a hearing on Aug. 26, with several related court challenges set to be heard by the end of September. They include the FTC’s original lawsuit filed in February to block the deal, which was joined by attorneys general in eight states and the District of Columbia. State attorneys general in Washington and Colorado also have filed individual actions against the merger.

The proposed merger comes as Maine’s grocery landscape continues to diversify, with the opening last year of the state’s first Costco in Scarborough, and further growth and consolidation among Shaw’s, Hannaford, Market Basket, Target, Walmart and independent grocers across the state.

How Shaw’s stores would be affected is uncertain. Kroger has promised that none of the more than 5,500 supermarkets related to the merger is targeted for closure, all frontline associates will remain employed, and all collective bargaining agreements will continue.

Neither Albertsons nor Kroger have answered specific questions about the potential impact on Shaw’s, other than to say they don’t expect the chain’s stores in Maine to change as a result of the merger.

The pending merger is just one of many factors impacting Maine’s grocery store owners, said Christine Cummings, executive director of the Maine Grocers & Food Producers Association.

Rising costs and shifting market demands have forced many food retailers to make sure they’re connecting with their communities, offering products customers want and can afford, and creating work environments that sustain long-term employees. All of that is challenging when most grocery stores operate with 1-2% profit margins, she said.

“Folks are keeping an eye on a variety of factors in the industry,” Cummings said. “There’s a lot to juggle right now.”

Kroger and Albertsons agreed to merge in October 2022 and hoped to close the deal early this year. Together, they would control about 13% of the U.S. grocery market; Walmart controls 22%, according to J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman.

Cincinnati-based Kroger is the nation’s largest supermarket operator, with about 500,000 associates among 2,750 stores in 35 states, including the Ralphs, Dillons and Harris Teeter chains. Albertsons, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, is the second largest, with about 290,000 associates among 2,272 stores in 34 states, including the Star Market, Safeway and Vons chains, and 127 Shaw’s across New England.

In an effort to satisfy federal regulators, Kroger and Albertsons announced last September that they would sell 413 stores, eight distribution centers, two offices and other assets for about $1.9 billion to C&S Wholesale Grocers, which supplies more than 7,500 food sellers, including over 500 independent Piggly Wiggly grocery stores.

They upped the ante in July, releasing a detailed list of 579 stores to be sold across 18 states and the District of Columbia. None are in New England.

Kroger also has pledged to invest billions of dollars into price reductions, capital improvements, and associate wages and benefits at Albertsons stores across the country, including $500 million to begin lowering prices and $1.3 billion to improve stores.

Despite these promises, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 835,000 grocery workers in the U.S. and Canada, voted last year to oppose the merger, saying Kroger and Albertsons had failed to be transparent about the potential impact of the merger on workers.

The union also criticized a $4 billion payout to Albertsons shareholders that was announced as part of the merger deal. Several states, including Washington and California, tried unsuccessfully to block the payment in court.

So far, the states that have joined the federal effort to block the merger are Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming.

The merger agreement had a closing date of Jan. 13, 2024, but can be extended every 30 days into October.