The Colorado attorney general’s office will argue in next week that the merger of grocery store chains Kroger and Albertsons would harm customers, employees and area farmers.

Now, the two grocery chains must defend their proposal in a face-off with Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who filed a lawsuit in February in Denver District Court to permanently block the merger.

On Monday, the CEOs for Kroger and Albertsons were pushed, and pushed back, over whether the two grocery retailers need to merge.

The Colorado attorney general's legal effort to stop the merger between grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons starts Monday.

Cohen, an investment adviser from Northern California, spent three weeks in Portland recently, mostly holed up in the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse. As founder and CEO of MDC Financial Research,

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit back in February with the hopes of permanently blocking the $25 billion merger, claiming it would eliminate competition and raise prices. In July,