Legal challenges to Albertsons’s special dividend put a spotlight on the ways private equity extraction drives grocery consolidation.
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As poultry corporations face price- and wage-fixing scandals, Cargill and Continental Grain want to further consolidate the industry.
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On Wednesday, the CEO of e-cigarette maker Juul abruptly stepped down after a tumultuous month. Two weeks ago, President Trump proposed banning products that represent 80 percent of Juul’s sales and federal prosecutors and agencies have launched investigations into the company’s marketing tactics and supply chain. Also Wednesday, tobacco giant Phillip Morris International ended merger talks with Altria, which owns a 35 percent stake in Juul.
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In a recent letter to government regulators, the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) argues that the proposed $66 billion takeover of SunTrust by BB&T will harm “rural and economically disadvantaged areas.” In the letter, the NBFA said the takeover will result in fewer rural branches, less competition in the regions where many of their members farm, and cuts in staff and services, particularly those dedicated to anti-discrimination compliance oversight.
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Last month, the nation’s fourth-largest beef packer, National Beef, announced plans to take over Sysco-owned Iowa Premium, a regional packer focused on processing Black Angus steers for the Upper Midwest. National Beef is majority owned by Brazilian firm Marfrig.
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Last Saturday, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and other Democratic Party presidential hopefuls gathered in Storm Lake, Iowa at the Heartland Forum to present their platforms for revitalizing rural communities. Preceding the forum, a coalition of farming groups held a rally nearby calling for a moratorium on large agricultural mergers and a Farmers Bill of Rights.
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European grocery chains are driving a new round of concentration in American food retail, as they race to buy up independent grocers or drive them out of business. In the most recent deal, Stop & Shop, a subsidiary of Dutch-based Ahold-Delhaize, announced it will acquire Long Island supermarket chain, King Kullen, America’s first-ever supermarket.
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Last week, organic and natural foods distributor, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) announced plans to buy the largest publicly traded grocery wholesaler, Supervalu, for just under $3 billion. The deal is largely a defensive move by UNFI after Amazon bought their largest customer, Whole Foods.
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On Thursday, Bayer closed its $62.5 billion purchase of Monsanto. This comes roughly a week after the Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the merger, on the condition that the corporations sell off $9 billion worth of assets, including seed divisions, intellectual property, research projects, and more. Yet even after these divestitures, the combined entity will be the largest global seed and agrochemical corporation, and U.S. based field crop growers fear the power of the new combine.
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In the fall of 2016, the German drug, seed, and crop chemicals conglomerate Bayer announced plans to merge with the U.S. chemical and bio-tech seed giant Monsanto. Hoping to overcome objections from European anti-trust regulators, Bayer is promising to sell off its vegetable seed business to BASF, a German corporation that is currently the largest chemical maker in the world.
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When Bayer first announced its plan to purchase Monsanto, most observers focused on how much power the two corporations already wield over agricultural inputs like seeds and pesticides. But Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s top antitrust enforcer, appears also to be focusing on how much control a combined Bayer-Monsanto would have over the data generated from private farms.
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On November 20, wine and spirits distributors Breakthru Beverage and Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) announced that they plan to merge. The two companies are the second- and third-largest distributors, and would together have nearly a 60% market share. Experts say continued consolidation in distribution means less leverage for small retailers, and an uphill struggle for small wineries seeking distribution contracts.
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