State of California v. American Stores Co. Alpha Beta Acquisition Corp. Lucky Stores, Inc.

WALLACE, Circuit Judge:

American Stores Company (American Stores), one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers, appeals from orders denying its motion to dismiss and granting a motion for preliminary injunction in favor of the State of California. American Stores acquired 100% of the stock of Lucky Stores, Inc. (Lucky), one of American Stores’s major competitors in California. Approximately three months later, the California Attorney General initiated this antitrust action, both on his own behalf and in his capacity as parens patriae of the consumers of the state, challenging American…