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A judge in Oregon is blocking Kroger's $25 billion acquisition of Jewel-Osco's parent company.

U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson sided with state and federal regulators in an antitrust case that seeks to stop the country's second- and fourth-largest groceries by sales volume from joining forces. Nelson ruled the merger would limit competition and raise grocery prices.

Some industry observers believe the temporary injunction could end up killing the deal.

Cincinnati-based Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, was looking to add scale to better compete with Walmart, Target, Costco, Amazon and other competitors that have gained more of a share of the grocery market in recent years without depending solely on groceries and their razor-thin margins to survive. It was looking to absorb Boise, Idaho-based Albertson's Companies, which owns Jewel-Osco and many other local grocery store brands around the country.

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The deal would have meant changes for the longtime Chicagoland grocery Jewel-Osco, which has stores in Munster, Dyer, Crown Point and Chesterton. Kroger had promised $1 billion in price cuts, but consumer groups and unions had opposed the deal, saying its prices would only rise over time without any competition to keep them in check in many markets across the United States.

"American families are the big winner today, thanks to the Federal Trade Commission. The only people who stood to gain from the potential merger between Albertsons and Kroger were their wealthy executives and investors," said Liz Zelnick with the consumer group Accountable.US. "The rest of us are letting out a huge sigh of relief knowing today's victory is good news for competitive prices and consumer access."

The FTC, along with eight attorney generals, has been suing to stop the merger from going through.

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