Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) (“Albertsons Cos.” or “the Company”) today announced that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has denied the request by the California, Illinois and District of Columbia Attorneys General for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) against the Company’s previously announced $6.85 per common share Special Dividend (the “Special Dividend”), originally scheduled to be paid on November 7, 2022.
Albertsons Cos. continues to seek to overturn the existing temporary restraining order granted by the Washington State Court on November 3, which was based on the incorrect assertion that payment of the Special Dividend would impair the Company’s ability to compete while its proposed merger (the “Merger”) with The Kroger Co. (“Kroger”) is under antitrust review. This order, which restrains the Company from paying the Special Dividend, remains in effect until November 10, 2022, unless within that time, an order is entered extending or dismissing the temporary restraining order.
Albertsons Cos. continues to maintain that the lawsuit brought by the State of Washington is meritless and provides no legal basis for canceling or postponing a dividend that has been duly and unanimously approved by Albertsons Cos.’ fully informed Board of Directors. After payment of the Special Dividend, Albertsons Cos. will have approximately $3.0 billion of liquidity, including approximately $500 million in cash and approximately $2.5 billion available under its already existing asset-based lending facility, and expects to continue to generate strong revenues and positive free cash flow, further increasing liquidity. Albertsons Cos. is confident that it will continue to make strategic progress following the payment of the Special Dividend, given its strong cash flows and low debt profile.
The Company remains fully committed to investing in the associates, stores, and digital capabilities that have made its recent growth and strong performance possible.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. The “forward-looking statements” include our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about the Special Dividend and the payment thereof. They include statements which the Company believes to be reasonable at this time. You can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “outlook,” “may,” “should,” “could,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “expects,” “future” and “intends” and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties which are beyond our control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the statements.
All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements and risk factors. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect our view only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation, other than as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
In evaluating our forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties more fully described in the “Risk Factors” section or other sections in our reports filed with the SEC.
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Contacts
For Investor Relations, contact investor-relations@albertsons.com
For Media Relations, contact media@albertsons.com
