Washington state’s highest court is allowing Albertsons to move forward with a $4 billion dividend payment ahead of its merger with Kroger, Reuters reports.

Albertsons said in a statement that it will "immediately begin the process of paying the Special Dividend and amounts will be distributed as soon as practicable".

The Kroger-Albertsons deal was first announced in October 2022 and has since encountered several obstacles before coming into fruition.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several of his peers protested the payment as it would severely hinder Albertsons ability to compete with Kroger.

However, Kroger representatives said at the time that the dividend payment is “independent of the merger transaction”, and that the decision was made “solely” by Albertsons.

Price surges and employee layoff concerns were also voiced by several U.S. senators at the time of the announcement.

At the moment, the only other legal action preventing the payment is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The transaction is expected to close in early 2024 and would bring together more than 2,700 Kroger stores across the United States and over 2,200 Albertsons locations.