Kroger announces new $7.5B share repurchase program

Now that Kroger (KR) has terminated the merger agreement, the company is ready to deploy its capacity. With its strengthened balance sheet, Kroger will resume share repurchases after a more than two-year pause. Since announcing the merger, Kroger used its strong free cash flow and debt financing to build meaningful balance sheet capacity while maintaining its investment-grade rating. Kroger’s Board of Directors approved a new share repurchase program authorizing the repurchase of up to $7.5B of common stock. The new repurchase authorization replaces Kroger’s existing $1B authorization which was approved in September 2022. Kroger intends to enter an accelerated share repurchase agreement for the repurchase of approximately $5B of common stock.