DENVER, Colorado: Kroger and Albertsons are close to agreeing on a deal that could secure U.S. regulatory clearance for their proposed US$24.5 billion merger.

The deal will involve selling more than 400 grocery stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers for nearly $2 billion.

Japanese investment group SoftBank is also in talks with C&S on financing a small part of the deal.

While SoftBank is more well-known for technology-related deals, it has relations to C&S executive chairman Rick Cohen because it has a joint venture with warehouse automation company Symbotic, where Cohen is the CEO.

The Kroger and Albertsons stores to be sold are primarily in the Pacific Northwest and the Mountain states, but some are in California, Texas, Illinois, and the East Coast.

They may reach an agreement as early as this week, but it remains to be seen whether the deal will convince regulators that a combined Kroger and Albertsons will not have too much influence over grocery prices.

Kroger, Albertsons, C&S, and SoftBank have not responded to requests for comment on the deal.

Bloomberg News reported the talks between C&S, Kroger, and Albertsons this week, as well as SoftBank’s involvement, but provided no information about the terms of the deal.