U.S. based Albertsons Cos. Inc. (ACI) and Kroger Co. have terminated their merger agreement after the U.S. District Court in Oregon and the King County Superior Court for the State of Washington issued injunctions with respect to the proposed merger on Dec.10, 2024. Following the termination, the company will proceed as a stand-alone entity and concurrently announced an updated capital allocation strategy. Therefore, we have removed the ratings on ACI from CreditWatch where it they were placed with positive implications on Oct. 14, 2022, and affirmed our 'BB+' issuer credit rating as well as our 'BB+' issue-level rating on senior unsecured notes issued by ACI, Safeway Inc. , and New Albertsons L.P. (NALP). Our recovery rating on the notes remains
