WHOLE FOODS AND THE FTC HASH IT OUT IN COURT
Whole Foods and Wild Oats are currently in court, hoping to convince a federal judge to allow their $564 million merger despite objections from the FTC. The FTC, meanwhile, is asking US District Judge Paul Friedman to block the deal on the grounds it would hurt competition in the natural foods sector.
One problem for Whole Foods is its ceo John Mackay and his antics which have been made public recently. For one thing, John told his board in emails that the deal was designed to avert price wars with Wild Oats and stave off competition with supermarkets, which he readily admitted on his blog this summer. Also, the FTC publicly acknowledged that Mackey had talked down Wild Oats under an anonymous name, rahodeb, on Yahoo! financial forum between 1999 and 2006, which he also admitted in his blog.
Since these revelations, Mackey has stopped posting his blog and issued an apology to shareholders. The company also said it has launched an internal investigation into John’s actions.
Closing arguments are being heard today by Judge Paul Friedman, and we’ll keep you informed of the outcome.
One problem for Whole Foods is its ceo John Mackay and his antics which have been made public recently. For one thing, John told his board in emails that the deal was designed to avert price wars with Wild Oats and stave off competition with supermarkets, which he readily admitted on his blog this summer. Also, the FTC publicly acknowledged that Mackey had talked down Wild Oats under an anonymous name, rahodeb, on Yahoo! financial forum between 1999 and 2006, which he also admitted in his blog.
Since these revelations, Mackey has stopped posting his blog and issued an apology to shareholders. The company also said it has launched an internal investigation into John’s actions.
Closing arguments are being heard today by Judge Paul Friedman, and we’ll keep you informed of the outcome.
posted at 12:51 PM
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