The Kroger Co., Albertsons Cos. Inc. and C&S Wholesale Grocers LLC on Jan. 15 issued the following joint statement:

"We remain in active and ongoing dialogue with the Federal Trade Commission and individual state attorneys general regarding our proposed merger and divestiture plan. We believe our merger with Albertsons and the comprehensive divestiture to C&S will result in the best outcomes for customers, associates and our communities. In light of our continuing dialogue with the regulators, we are updating our anticipated closure timeline. We currently anticipate that the closing will occur in the first half of Kroger's fiscal 2024. While this is longer than we originally thought, we knew it was a possibility and our merger agreement and divestiture plan accounted for such potential timing. We remain committed to closing the transaction and providing the meaningful and measurable benefits that we promised when we originally announced the transaction."

Following Kroger's combination with Albertsons, Kroger has pledged to invest $500 million to reduce prices as well as an incremental $1.3 billion to enhance the customer experience. Kroger plans to invest an incremental $1 billion to raise wages and comprehensive benefits for all associates post-close. This builds on the $1.9 billion in incremental investments the company has made in wages and comprehensive benefits since 2018.

As the identified divestiture buyer, C&S Wholesale Grocers has also committed to retaining frontline employees and further investing for growth.

Learn more about the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons here.

Source: The Kroger Co.