LAS VEGAS (Legal Newsline) - The attorneys general of Nevada and Washington say they have resolved concerns over the acquisition of various Safeway grocery stores in their states.
Lucas J. Tucker, senior deputy attorney general with the Nevada Attorney General’s Office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said Tuesday that a joint stipulation was filed the same day the office’s complaint was filed, Jan. 30.
A stipulated judgment was later signed, on Feb. 4, by Judge Jennifer Dorsey for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
Stephen T. Fairchild, assistant attorney general for the Washington Attorney General’s Office’s Antitrust Division, said Tuesday that the state also will not be proceeding to litigation against the merging parties and that a consent decree has been entered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, in Seattle.
Fairchild, who handled much of the work on the case, said the parties filed a consent decree and an agreed motion to enter the consent decree the same day the state’s complaint was filed, Jan. 30.
Judge John Coughenour signed and entered the consent decree Feb. 3.
“This resolved the competitive concerns that Washington had expressed to the merging parties,” Fairchild said in an email.
In their initial filings, the attorneys general argued the merger -- which was completed Jan. 30 -- was unlawful and would hurt businesses.
Safeway and Albertsons, an-Idaho based chain of supermarkets in the western and southwestern United States, announced the transaction, valued at nearly $9.2 billion, last March.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.