Will we soon be able to purchase Whole Foods groceries with Alexa?
Online retail giant Amazon has purchased Whole Foods according to a report from Bloomberg. The deal is said to be valued at $13.7 billion, or $42 per share — about $10 more per share than Whole Foods stock was worth as of yesterday. A press release issued by Amazon confirms the all-cash deal. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal is expected to close in the latter half of this year.
In a recent profile in Texas Monthly, Whole Foods CEO John Makey, who founded the company when he was 25 in 1978, seemed disillusioned by investors’ desire to sell.
“Yes, we need to evolve,” he told Texas Monthly. “We need to get better, and we’re doing that. But these guys just want to sell us, because they think they can make forty or fifty percent in a short period of time. They’re greedy bastards, and they’re putting a bunch of propaganda out there, trying to destroy my reputation and the reputation of Whole Foods, because it’s in their self-interest to do so.”
In Amazon’s release this morning Mackey wrote: “This partnership presents an opportunity to maximize value for Whole Foods Market’s shareholders, while at the same time extending our mission and bringing the highest quality, experience, convenience and innovation to our customers.”
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO said in the release “Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy. Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades — they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.”
Mackey will remain CEO under the new business structure, Whole Foods’s headquarters will remain in Austin, Texas, and Whole Foods Markets will continue to operate under that name, according to the release.
• Amazon to Acquire Whole Foods Market [Official]
from Eater - All http://ift.tt/2s8NUtT
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