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.

The supermarket chain had tried to join forces with Kroger, but judges sided with federal and state regulators who charged that the merger would reduce competition.

After the court rulings, Albertsons said on 11 December it is terminating the USD 26.5 billion (EUR 25.3 billion) merger with Kroger, and the company has filed a lawsuit against Kroger for “willful breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.”