Court Grants Expedited Review Of Restraining Order Against Albertsons' Special Dividend

(RTTNews) - Albertsons Companies Inc. (ACI) on Monday announced that the State of Washington Supreme Court has granted the company's motion to hold an expedited review of the temporary restraining order against its previously announced $6.85 per common share special dividend.

The date for the review has been moved forward to January 17, 2023, having previously been set for February 9, 2023.

Albertsons said that it continues to maintain that the claim brought by the Attorney General of the State of Washington, and the similar lawsuit brought by the Attorneys General of California, Illinois, and the District of Columbia, are meritless and provide no legal basis for preventing the payment of the Special Dividend.

In October, Kroger (KR) agreed to buy Albertsons for $34.10 per share, implying an enterprise value of about $24.6 billion.

Albertsons announced it will pay a special cash dividend of up to $4 billion to its shareholders. The company noted that the cash component of the $34.10 per share consideration will be reduced by the per share amount of the special cash dividend, which is expected to be about $6.85 per share.

However, Attorney Generals of California, Illinois and Washington D.C. filed a lawsuit to prevent Albertsons from paying a $4 billion dividend to shareholders.

They claimed that Albertsons, which owns such grocery brands as Safeway and Star Market, should use the money to compete against Kroger and that the dividend will harm retail segment.