Food Wars: The Umpire Strikes Back

Denied.

That’s one word the FTC has to live with as of yesterday’s ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that held that there shall be no injunction related to the Whole Foods Market/Wild Oats Markets merger.

Both Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Markets have agreed with the FTC to not close the merger before noon, Eastern Standard time, on Monday, August 20.

Both companies have agreed that the stakeholders will benefit and so will consumers, by combining forces.

According to the merger agreement, Whole Foods Market, would purchase all of the outstanding shares of Wild Oats at a purchase price of $18.50 per share and transfer some stores to Smart and Final, another distributor.

The FTC wanted to block the merger on antitrust grounds with a TRO and an injunction.