The Latest Breaking News from Albertson

Two US courts ruled against supermarket giant Kroger's planned $24.6 billion acquisition of rival chain Albertsons on Tuesday, dealing an existential threat to the merger in a win for the Federal Trade Commission, which had argued the deal would harm consumers.

The Washington state Supreme Court has swept aside the last legal obstacle to a $4 billion dividend by Albertson to its shareholders ahead of a controversial proposed merger with rival Kroger.

If the Federal Trade Commission clears grocery giant Albertsons' $20 billion sale to Kroger on schedule next month, the private-equity investors who control this collection of U.S. grocery and drug store chains will have squeezed out profits nine times larger than what they invested since 2006.

Kroger announced plans to acquire Albertsons Companies Friday in a $24.6 billion deal that could reshape the grocery market across the country, where the two chains are among the biggest grocers.