SEATTLE — A King County judge on Friday ruled that Albertsons’ plans to pay out $4 billion in dividends to shareholders can go forward amid its increasingly contentious merger with another grocery giant, Kroger.
Judge Ken Schubert rejected the assertion put forward by Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office that the dividend should be blocked because it might so badly weaken Albertsons, which also operates Safeway, as to violate state consumer protection laws.
The attorney general’s office expects to appeal Schubert’s ruling to the state Supreme Court for emergency review. Doing so is likely to prevent Albertsons from paying out the dividend until the higher court rules.
