Grocery Merger on Hold: American Stores’ plan...

Grocery Merger on Hold: American Stores’ plan to merge its Lucky and Alpha Beta supermarket chains was again put on hold. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco asked the Salt Lake City-based company to explain by Monday why it believes that the California Attorney General’s office should be required to pay a $16-million bond if it wants to pursue its effort to block the union by appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. A U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles had ordered the Attorney General to post the bond to cover any losses American Stores might suffer while the case is appealed. The Attorney General’s office appealed, noting that it was pursuing the antitrust suit on behalf of citizens and therefore should not be forced to pay.