A Washington state court on Thursday extended a temporary block on Albertsons’ $4 billion special dividend, which was originally set to get paid to shareholders on Nov. 7, according to a report by Reuters.
The matter now goes before a hearing set for next Thursday, Nov. 17, and the dividend remains halted until then.
King County Superior Court Judge Ken Schubert said he believes the state faces an "uphill" legal fight to stop the dividend and that he does not know of a case that has been granted an injunction by a court in a similar dispute, Reuters reported.
The grocery company has said it is seeking to overturn the temporary restraining order in Washington state. "We believe it is not in the public interest to delay this hearing any further," Michael Rosenberger, an attorney representing Albertsons, told Schubert, per Reuters.
In a win for the grocer, a federal court in Washington, D.C., earlier this week denied a temporary restraining order requested by the attorneys general of California, Illinois and Washington, D.C., against the dividend.
Opponents of the dividend have argued it could financially weaken Albertsons and hinder the grocer’s ability to remain competitive while its proposed merger with Kroger undergoes regulatory review. Albertsons has refuted those accusations.
