Daily Management Review

Amazon to buy Whole Foods supermarkets


06/16/2017


American online retailer Amazon.com reached an agreement to purchase a Whole Foods Market supermarket chain for $ 13.7 billion. The company will pay $ 42 per Whole Foods’ share.



ChadPerez49
ChadPerez49
"Millions of people love the Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural products of organic origin and make healthy nutrition positive", wrote Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos. 

The merger should maximize profits of Whole Foods Market’s shareholders, John Mackey, co-founder and general manager of Whole Foods, confirmed in a statement. After the merger, scheduled for the second half of the year, Whole Foods will retain its name, headquarters in Austin, Texas, and top management, headed by the current CEO. The company's sales reached $ 16 billion in 2016, with more than 460 outlets operating in the US, Canada and the UK.

The purchase should be approved by regulators and shareholders of the Whole Foods Market. It is expected to be closed in the second half of 2017. The deal will become the largest in the history of Amazon, whose cash reserves as of the end of March 2017 were about $ 21.5 billion.

Whole Foods is the largest supermarket chain in the United States, specializing in natural foods. Founded in 1978, the company operates over 460 supermarkets in the US and Canada, employs 87 thousand people, revenue in 2016 fining reached $ 16 billion.

source: bloomberg.com