Prospect of Kroger-Albertsons merger send Ocado shares skyrocketing

Shares in British online retailer Ocado were soaring on Thursday last week amidst talks of a merger between US leading grocer Kroger and rival Albertsons. The move is likely to benefit Ocado, which partnered with Kroger in 2018 to build automated warehouses and customer fulfilment centres for the US retailer. The talks of a merger sent Ocado share prices up 10.9%. If the deal goes through, it is speculated that Albertsons will also make use of Ocado’s robotic warehouses, which pick and pack grocery orders to be distributed to customers.

The partnership between Kroger and Albertsons would reportedly create a grocery giant worth £41billion, almost three times the size of Tesco, the UK’s leading supermarket.