(1/x) BREAKING: At @HNTRBRKmedia, we just used OSINT to figure out why Japan's tech giant SoftBank may be spending $400 million buying... American grocery stores as part of the Albertsons-Kroger merger?
Hint: It may have to do with the AI company Symbotic/ $SYM. CC @FTC.
Hint: It may have to do with the AI company Symbotic/ $SYM. CC @FTC.
The FTC is in court to block the merger and subpoenaed C&S Wholesale Grocers for “all communications and other Documents transmitted between or among you, the Company, Defendants, C&S, SoftBank, Symbotic.”
Key Findings:
- C&S, backed by SoftBank, is set to acquire 500+ stores from Kroger/Albertsons to protect "competition" in groceries.
- C&S execs also run $SYM, a struggling warehouse automation AI company.
- C&S previously stated they are moving away from retail, so why the sudden reversal?
- We found statistically improbable overlap between Symbotic operations and the stores that Albertsons and Kroger would divest to C&S.
- Our back of the envelope math shows less than a 0.01% chance this overlap is coincidental. Anything is possible!
- C&S, backed by SoftBank, is set to acquire 500+ stores from Kroger/Albertsons to protect "competition" in groceries.
- C&S execs also run $SYM, a struggling warehouse automation AI company.
- C&S previously stated they are moving away from retail, so why the sudden reversal?
- We found statistically improbable overlap between Symbotic operations and the stores that Albertsons and Kroger would divest to C&S.
- Our back of the envelope math shows less than a 0.01% chance this overlap is coincidental. Anything is possible!
C&S is acquiring 74 divested stores near Phoenix, adjacent to Symbotic's Arizona facility. C&S also inherits a pair of distribution centers nearby.
Within 30 miles of Symbotic’s hub of Melrose Park, Illinois, C&S would get 32 stores — including 28 Marianos and 4 Jewel-Osco locations. Another 14 stores are within a 30-mile radius of Symbotic’s Irvine, California facility, and 49 stores are being divested across the greater Los Angeles area.
In total, a fifth of divested stores are located near Symbotic facilities.
Our back of the envelope math shows less than a 0.01% chance this overlap is coincidental. Anything is possible!
Our back of the envelope math shows less than a 0.01% chance this overlap is coincidental. Anything is possible!
In court, FTC allegedly asked C&S CEO if he had plans to automate warehouses, according to a transcript posted by @BalanceCrafting. His answer, under oath, was... less than definitive: “We haven’t made any plans to automate any of these warehouses.”
We reached out to Symbotic, Softbank, C&S, and the FTC for comment. None provided any. Closing arguments are scheduled for next week.
For the full article and all disclosures, link here:
And for more hard-hitting reporting, follow @hntrbrkmedia.
Based on Hunterbrook Media’s reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is short $SYM. Positions may change at any time. See full disclosures below.hntrbrk.com/symbotic
And for more hard-hitting reporting, follow @hntrbrkmedia.
Based on Hunterbrook Media’s reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is short $SYM. Positions may change at any time. See full disclosures below.hntrbrk.com/symbotic
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