WHOLE FOODS, FTC SETTLE ON WILD OATS MERGER

By Nathaniel Luce

Publication: REUTERS

Premium organic grocer Whole Foods Market Inc. has settled an antitrust battle with U.S. regulators by agreeing to sell the Wild Oats brand, 13 functioning stores, and the leases and assets for 19 closed stores. LUKE FROEB, who teaches at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, seemed skeptical that it would be easy to find appropriate purchasers for the stores.
“It’s high-end retailers that have gotten killed in this downturn,” he said, calling the FTC’s decision to revive the Wild Oats brand “unprecedented.”