Kroger announced Wednesday it will acquire Giant Eagle, the family-owned Pittsburgh grocery chain that has operated for 95 years across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana, for $1.65 billion in a deal that includes $1.25 billion in cash and the assumption of approximately $400 million in liabilities.
The acquisition is expected to close in 2027, pending antitrust review. Kroger's board unanimously approved it.
Giant Eagle operates 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies and generates approximately $9 billion in annual sales.
It will keep its name. It will remain headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.
It will continue operating its Market District and GetGo brands under existing leadership. The myPerks loyalty program stays.
Kroger says it does not anticipate store closures or frontline job eliminations, though retail experts noted that corporate-level consolidation typically follows acquisitions of this kind.
The deal is Kroger's first major acquisition since its $25 billion attempted merger with Albertsons collapsed in 2024 after courts ruled the combination would harm competition.
That failure left Kroger looking for a different path to expand. New CEO Greg Foran, the former head of Walmart U.S. who took over Kroger earlier this year, championed this deal as his first major strategic move.
"Giant Eagle is a well-run, high-quality regional grocer," Foran said. "We evaluated the opportunity carefully, and the strategic fit is clear."
The National Grocers Association urged regulators to conduct a thorough review, noting that 69 percent of US grocery sales are already controlled by just four national chains.