In a major blow to Kroger and Albertsons, a federal judge has blocked their $24.6 billion merger. The ruling, in favor of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), found that the proposed union would lessen competition for grocery shoppers. The FTC had argued that the merger would eliminate head-to-head competition between the top two traditional grocery chains, leading to higher prices for shoppers and reduced bargaining leverage for unionized workers. Kroger and Albertsons had tried to convince the judge that selling off 579 of the stores would preserve competition, but the effort was unsuccessful. The ruling essentially scuttles the merger, which would have seen Kroger own approximately 5,000 stores across the US.