Albertsons is giving up on its merger with Kroger a day after it was rejected in two courts and it is suing the grocery chain, saying it didn't do enough to secure regulatory approval for the $24.6 billion agreement.

Kroger previously had agreed to pay Albertsons a $600 million breakup fee if the deal didn’t come to fruition.The termination comes the day after U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson sided with the Federal Trade Commission’s argument that Kroger would become the dominant player in the traditional grocery-store space if it added Albertsons’ nearly 2,

Shares of Kroger have surged 32% this year and analysts said that a potential deal termination would be an upside for investors as the grocer may restart share buybacks. Albertsons, meanwhile, has lost about 20% of its market value in 2024.