#shorts On 11/29/2022, SenJosh Hawley (R-Mo.) pressed Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen about the Kroger and Albertsons merger. Josh Hawley of Missouri questioned whether the companies’ pledges to combine their efforts on environmental, social and governance issues should be a factor in considering the deal. “Why would having complementary ESG strategies be justification for a merger?” Hawley said. “Why would that be relevant at all?”

McMullen: Well if you look at some of the things that both of us have done from Kroger’s commitment to zero hunger zero waste and we’ve made the commitment. If we operate in a market there’ll be zero hunger in that market and we’ll work with everybody and especially food banks uh we’ve provided 2.3 billion meals uh by merging with Albertsons as an example. We’ll be able to have that positive impact and really further grow on what both of our companies have done individually.

Cotton: don’t you think you should be asking what positive impact you’re going to have on the people you serve like for instance the ability to provide food at a reasonable cost to people who need it the ability to actually offer a product that consumers need and want you know here’s what I find interesting lean a concept where you’re sitting to the chairman of the FTC just a few weeks ago and she testified under oath that she’s seeing an accelerating trend of companies justifying mergers on the basis of ESG as if that should somehow allow them to evade scrutiny for the merger she testified that she thought it had absolutely no relevance whatsoever and I think that she is absolutely correct the fact that you’re using this as a justification for your merger I think frankly is ridiculous

other clips of this published longer video is here: https://youtu.be/AN2yohlGUMc

Q: Why complementary ESG strategies be justification for a merger? Why would that be relevant at all?