|
 |
Mar-08-2009Whole Foods To Sell 31 Wild Oats Stores To Settle With US(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
SOURCES
FIND OUT MORE ON THIS SUBJECT
After spending $28 million in legal fees and two years battling the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Whole Foods Market Inc. agreed Friday in a settlement to sell more than 30 stores that once belonged to rival grocer Wild Oats. The settlement will stop the FTC from pursuing its legal challenge against Austin-based Whole Foods for its 2007 purchase of Wild Oats Markets Inc., another natural and organic foods chain. [1] Whole Foods Market Inc. will sell 32 Wild Oats stores and other related assets under a settlement agreement reached with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC continued to challenge the Austin, Texas-based retailer's purchase of its largest rival, Boulder, Colo. -based Wild Oats Market Inc.[2] Whole Foods Market Inc. and the Federal Trade Commission have reached a settlement agreement resolving the government's antitrust challenge to the organic grocer's August 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets Inc. Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods has agreed to sell 32 stores, mostly located in Arizona and Colorado, as part of the settlement.[3] This morning, Whole Foods Market, Inc. ( WFMI ) announced that it has reached a settlement agreement resolving the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) antitrust challenge to the company's August 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, Inc. The FTC will issue a final ruling after a 30-day comment period.[4] WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission said on Friday it has reached a settlement with Whole Foods Market Inc ( WFMI.O ), resolving FTC charges that the acquisition of Wild Oats Markets in 2007 had violated antitrust law. The FTC said the settlement substantially restores competition that was eliminated by Whole Foods' acquisition of Wild Oats, its closest rival.[5] Miriam Marcus, 03.06.09, 12:35 PM EST Organic grocer reached an agreement with the government over antitrust charges related to Wild Oats. Whole Foods is going wild now that it has made peace with Uncle Sam over the legality of its 2007 acquisition of its closest rival. Whole Foods (nasdaq: WFMI - news - people ) Market reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, it said Friday, resolving charges that its $565.0 million acquisition of Wild Oats Markets had violated antitrust law.[6] March 6 (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission and Whole Foods Market Inc announced on Friday a settlement that resolved FTC charges that the organic and natural foods grocer's 2007 purchase of Wild Oats Markets violated antitrust laws.[7] The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it has settled its dispute with Whole Foods Market, resolving the agency'''s charges that the 2007 merger between Whole Foods and Wild Oats Markets, another high-end organic grocery chain, violated federal antitrust laws.[8] For months, Whole Foods Market and its legal team have waged a very public battle against the Federal Trade Commission'''s charges that the high-end grocer'''s 2007 merger with Wild Oats Markets violated antitrust laws.[9]
Business filings jumped 54 percent, to 43,546 from 28,322 a year earlier. Whole Foods Market Inc. said Friday it will sell 13 stores to resolve the Federal Trade Commission's challenge against the grocer over its $565 million purchase of Wild Oats Markets.[10] Whole Foods Market says it will sell its Cottonwood Heights store and 12 other outlets in the western U.S. to resolve the Federal Trade Commission's challenge against the grocer over its purchase of Wild Oats Markets. The Texas-based chain said Friday it will also sell leases and assets for 19 Wild Oats stores that have already been closed, including its shuttered store at 3736 W. Center Park Drive in West Jordan.[11] Whole Foods said Friday that it had reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission regarding allegations that it had violated antitrust laws in its acquisition of Wild Oats and sell leases and assets of 19 Wild Oats stores that have closed.[12] Organic grocer Whole Foods Market ( WFMI.O ) on Friday settled an antitrust battle with the Federal Trade Commission by agreeing to sell the Wild Oats brand, 13 functioning stores and leases and assets for 19 closed stores.[13]
Shares of Whole Foods were down 18 cents, or 1.5%, to $11.60, in morning trading in New York. According to the settlement, which the FTC said restores competition in the premium and organic foods market, Whole Foods must sell 32 of its supermarkets and related assets, including 12 Wild Oats stores, one Whole Foods store, and the leases for 19 Wild Oats stores that have already been closed. It must also divest intellectual property relating to Wild Oats, including the branding rights.[6] Now that the case has been settled, with Whole Foods agreeing to sell off 32 former Wild Oats stores, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz is finally talking. He sounds. ridiculous. "As a result of this settlement," he said in a statement, "American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods. "It allows the FTC to shift resources to other important matters and Whole Foods to move on with its business." He said what he said.) It's wholly unclear on what basis Leibowitz believes there will be "more choices and lower prices." As Whole Foods' CEO John Mackey has said all along, the chain, with or without Wild Oats, faces increased competition as mainstream grocers bulk up their offerings of organic and natural products. Wal-Mart sells organic foods.[14] The terms of the settlement stipulate that Whole Foods sell 32 Wild Oats stores. Some of those stores are already closed. "As a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods," noted Jon Leibowitz, chairman, FTC, in a prepared statement.[15]
The FTC said 29 geographic markets -- including Boston, Las Vegas, Denver and Miami Beach, Fla. -- would be harmed if Whole Foods purchased Wild Oats. Under Friday's settlement, Whole Foods agreed to sell stores that are predominantly in those 29 geographic markets. However some stores, such as one in Littleton, Colo., are for sale even though the site wasn't deemed competitive, while other Wild Oats stores, such as one in Miami Beach, will remain with Whole Foods.[1] One leading antitrust attorney (Steven Newborn of Weil, Gotshal & Manges ) called the suit "laughable," and predicted Whole Foods was just delaying the inevitable divestiture of assets. Well, that happened today, as Whole Foods agreed to sell 12 Wild Oats stores and one of its own in order to satisfy the FTC, according the blog of the Legal Times, an Am Law Daily sibling publication.[16]
The combined stores had sales of about $31 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009, or about 1.3 percent of the company's stotal sales of $2.5 billion. Whole Foods closed on its purchase of Boulder, Colo. -based Wild Oats in August 2007 after an FTC antitrust challenge to the deal was blocked by a U.S. District Court judge.[17] Over the last two years, the dispute between Whole Foods and the FTC saw several twists and turns that made the case unlike most merger challenges in which antitrust concerns are resolved before companies decide to close a deal. Whole Foods closed its Wild Oats acquisition in August 2007 after a federal judge rejected the FTC's initial attempt to block the merger, but a federal appeals court overturned that ruling a year later and revived the commission's case, throwing the deal into a state of uncertainty.[18] Whole Foods paid $565 million in 2007 for Boulder, Colo., competitor Wild Oats after the FTC failed to block the deal in federal court. The FTC continued to press its case and a year later an appellate court concluded that the ruling allowing the deal to go forward was rushed and needed to be reconsidered.[19]
Whole Foods Market Inc. agreed Friday to disgorge many of the Wild Oats Markets Inc. stores it purchased in 2007, settling with the Federal Trade Commission a long-running case over the $565 million deal.[20] Feb. 21, 2007: Whole Foods announces a deal to buy Wild Oats for $565 million. March 13, 2007: Both stores receive a request for additional information about the merger from the Federal Trade Commission.[21]
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Federal Trade Commission announced Friday it has reached a settlement with Whole Foods on its challenge of the $565 million purchase of Wild Oats Markets in 2007.[22]
A Wild Oats store on 43rd and Main streets in Kansas City may be put up for sale as part of an antitrust settlement between Whole Foods Market Inc. and the Federal Trade Commission.[23] Whole Foods Markets Inc. will sell two operating and six closed stores in Arizona to settle a long-standing Federal Trade Commission dispute over its acquisition of competitor Wild Oats in 2007.[19] Law360, New York (March 06, 2009) -- After an expensive and time-consuming two-year brawl, the Federal Trade Commission and Whole Foods Market Inc. have reached an agreement regarding the grocer's acquisition of rival Wild Oats Markets Inc.[24] At least the long, surreal nightmare is over. Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFMI ) has come to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission concerning its acquisition of Wild Oats Market.[25] Whole Foods ' settlement of the Federal Trade Commission anti-trust suit over its acquisition of the Wild Oats chain will be a relief to the entire retail industry, which has been concerned about just what the FTC was up to during then entire case.[26]
Antitrust gadflies are going organic, fair-trade bananas today with news of the settlement between Whole Foods and the Federal Trade Commission, which in 2007 challenged the company's proposed merger with competitor Wild Oats.[27] German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said recently that GM's plan for saving Opel "isn't a reliable basis for a decision" on whether or not the German government would come to Opel's aid. WASHINGTON, March 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has settled an antitrust case with Whole Foods Market Inc., concerning its 2007 purchase of Wild Oats.[28]
Three other Colorado locations in Colorado Springs, Littleton and Westminster are also on the list. The deal is part of a settlement agreement that resolves the FTC's challenge against Whole Foods Market over its 2007 purchase of Boulder-based Wild Oats Markets. It will be "business as usual" while potential buyers are sought, Whole Foods Chief Executive John Mackey said. "We believe it was in the best interests of all our stakeholders to resolve this matter so we can dedicate our full attention to selling the highest quality foods available in our inviting store environments," Mackey said.[21] The Bishop'''s Corner location will be sold as part of a federal anti-trust settlement announced on Friday. That location had been a Wild Oats Store until Whole Foods bought the other healthy food store in 2007. "It will be business as usual in the 13 operating stores to be marketed for sale. We are committed to serving our shoppers by continuing to operate these stores in the manner our customers deserve and expect,''' said Chief Executive John Mackey in a statement released Friday.[29] Under the pact, Whole Foods (WFMI), the largest U.S. organic grocer, will divest 19 former Wild Oats stores that were closed, 12 operating Wild Oats stores, one operating Whole Foods store, and Wild Oats' trademarks and other intellectual property. "It will be business as usual in the 13 operating stores to be marketed for sale," Chairman John Mackey said in a statement.[30] Whole Foods must sell the Wild Oats brand, according to the settlement. "It will be business as usual in the 13 operating stores to be marketed for sale," John Mackey, chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Whole Foods, said in a statement.[31] The two Boulder Wild Oats Markets, located at 2584 Baseline Road and 1651 Broadway St. as well as the Westminster store at 9229 N. Sheridan Blvd., will be put up for sale by a third party until Sept. 6. If any of the stores don't sell, or there isn't a good-faith offer by that date, those stores remain property of Whole Foods Market, said company spokeswoman Kate Lowery. "We believe it was in the best interests of all our stakeholders to resolve this matter so we can dedicate our full attention to selling the highest quality foods available in our inviting store environments," John Mackey, Whole Foods' chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder, said in a statement.[32]
Whole Foods Market, the U.S. organics retailer, will sell 13 stores as part of an agreement with the country's regulators to settle their dispute over the company's 2007 takeover of rival Wild Oats Markets.[33] Whole Foods Market Inc. will sell 13 stores to settle an antitrust challenge to its acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, but the company will keep its Memphis store.[34]
The Arizona sites are among 13 operating stores in eight states and 19 closed stores in 10 states that Whole Foods agreed to sell to allay the government's antitrust concerns over the Wild Oats acquisition.[19] Specifically, Whole Foods agreed to close 13 stores currently operating and 19 formerly operating stores in 17 geographical markets FTC said were impacted by the "anticompetitive" acquisition. The agency noted these stores represent a significant portion of the Wild Oats stores that Whole Foods acquired and is currently operating, as well as all of the formerly operating Wild Oats stores for which leases still exist.[35] For evidence that there is plenty of "choice," witness the crowds of recession-battered consumers fleeing away from Whole Foods and toward Safeway, Kroger, and others. If Wild Oats still existed, they would not be going there looking for bargains. As for Leibowitz's desire to move the FTC on to "other important matters" and for Whole Foods to "move on with its business," he's as late as his agency was when it decided, well over a year after the acquisition was complete, to continue going after Whole Foods. It's possible that selling off 32 former Wild Oats stores will actually help Whole Foods by raising needed cash for the chain. Mackey himself has said the acquisition was badly timed and that he wished he hadn't done it. It's not clear who might buy those stores'''some of which are actually closed'''and for how much.[14] Whole Foods also must divest related Wild Oats intellectual property, including unrestricted rights to the Wild Oats brand. According to FTC, these actions will allow one or more FTC-approved buyers to re-establish competition with Whole Foods in most of the areas the agency claimed would have suffered reduced competition in the wake of the acquisition, likely leading to higher prices and decreased services. "As a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods," said Jon Leibowitz, chairman of FTC. "It allows the FTC to shift resources to other important matters and Whole Foods to move on with its business." David P. Wales, acting director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, noted for the past two years, the agency had not wavered in its belief the acquisition of Wild Oats was anticompetitive. "The consent order announced today is a major win for consumers and is the result of the superb work done by all the FTC staff," he said.[35] David Wales, acting director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said the settlement announced today is a 'major win' for consumers. 'Over the past two years we have never wavered in our belief that Whole Foods' acquisition of Wild Oats was anticompetitive, and we were prepared to demonstrate in court the actual, real-world consumer harm that resulted from the transaction,' he said, in a statement.[2]
WASHINGTONThe long, drawn-out battle between FTC and Whole Foods Markets Inc. over the retailer's acquisition of Wild Oats has seemingly come to an end, as both sides agreed on a settlement that will feature the divesture of 32 stores and assets related to the acquisition.[35] Whole Foods will apparently recognize a $19 million settlement.'' Among these properties are leases and related assets for 19 non-operating former Wild Oats stores, leases and related fixed assets (excluding inventory) for 12 operating Wild Oats stores and one operating Whole Foods Market store.''[36] If the settlement agreement survives a mandatory 30-day public comment period ending April 6, the divestiture committee has
|
|
|
