SEATTLE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Judges in Washington and Oregon have put the brakes on a proposed merger between supermarket giants Kroger and Albertsons.

U.S. District Court Judge Adrienne Nelson issued the ruling on Tuesday, Dec. 10, after holding a three-week hearing in Portland, OR.

In 2022, Kroger and Albertsons proposed what would be the largest grocery store merger in U.S. history.

But the FTC sued earlier this year, asking Nelson to block the nearly $25 billion deal until an in-house administrative judge could consider the merger’s implications. Nelson agreed to pause the merger, saying strong public interest in enforcing antitrust laws outweighs any potential harm done to the two grocery giants.

Meanwhile, a King County Superior Court judge has ruled that the merger violates Washington state’s anti-trust laws and cannot go forward.

That ruling came in a challenge to the merger filed by the state attorney general’s office.