WHOLE FOODS CHIEF SOUNDS OFF
Whole Foods chief John Mackey basically says his reason for buying Wild Oats is because it will eliminate competition and prevent “nasty price wars.” Seems obvious, right? But John’s honesty (posted in his blog on the Whole Foods website) could cause a bit of a problem for his lawyers. Whole Foods is currently fighting a FTC decision to block the roughly $600 million acquisition of rival Wild Oats on the grounds that it would violate anti-trust laws.
Here are some interesting quotes we pulled off the site.
“Part of the reason to do almost any merger is to eliminate a competitor. This is so self-evident to me that I really can't understand why the FTC wants to make a big deal out of it. If the FTC is opposed to the elimination of all competition then I don't understand why they approve any mergers?”
“The FTC needs to get out of Washington D.C. once in a while and look around at what is happening out in the real marketplace.”
“From the first day the FTC began their investigation they were very hostile and adversarial towards Whole Foods.”
“While the FTC can look at absolutely anything and everything it wants to about our company does Whole Foods have the same reciprocal rights with the FTC? Of course not! We can't go look at all the FTC e-mails concerning Whole Foods and Wild Oats (which no doubt say some pretty interesting things about how the FTC really operates!).”
“Because after the merger is complete, the acquired Wild Oats stores will be brought into Whole Foods system and their overall prices will be lowered. Consumers will be receiving lower prices, not higher prices after this merger is completed.” [His underlining].
Here are some interesting quotes we pulled off the site.
“Part of the reason to do almost any merger is to eliminate a competitor. This is so self-evident to me that I really can't understand why the FTC wants to make a big deal out of it. If the FTC is opposed to the elimination of all competition then I don't understand why they approve any mergers?”
“The FTC needs to get out of Washington D.C. once in a while and look around at what is happening out in the real marketplace.”
“From the first day the FTC began their investigation they were very hostile and adversarial towards Whole Foods.”
“While the FTC can look at absolutely anything and everything it wants to about our company does Whole Foods have the same reciprocal rights with the FTC? Of course not! We can't go look at all the FTC e-mails concerning Whole Foods and Wild Oats (which no doubt say some pretty interesting things about how the FTC really operates!).”
“Because after the merger is complete, the acquired Wild Oats stores will be brought into Whole Foods system and their overall prices will be lowered. Consumers will be receiving lower prices, not higher prices after this merger is completed.” [His underlining].
posted at 12:55 PM
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