Whole Foods (WFMI) merger is on!

Posted Aug 23rd 2007 6:46PM by Zac Bissonnette
Filed under: Deals, Law, Whole Foods Market (WFMI)

The FTC's bid to block Whole Foods' (NASDAQ: WFMI) acquisition of Wild Oats (NASDAQ: OATS) has ended in failure. A three-judge panel of D.C.'s U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the government's appeal to have the merger blocked. The judges ruled that the FTC had failed to show that Judge Paul Friedman, who denied the government's motion a week ago today, had acted improperly. Last Thursday, the

Whole Foods says it will close the deal as soon as possible. CEO John Mackey likely remains on the hot-seat, and his anonymous message board ramblings are still the subject of an SEC investigation.

Now that the merger is done, investors can begin to discuss how the merger will impact Whole Foods as a stock. The FTC's effort to block it indicates that it should be very good indeed.

Tags: inthenews, OATS, WFMI, Whole Foods, WholeFoods, Wild Oats, WildOats