The company had planned to move ahead with the $565 million deal, announced six months ago, as early as noon Monday if the U.S. Appeals Court had not issued a stay. Whole Foods said the FTC looked at
the deal the wrong way, focusing on natural and organic grocers rather than taking a broader view of the overall industry. When Whole Foods announced its plan to buy Wild Oats for $18.50 per share on
Feb. 21, it said it faced increased pressure from larger players.
Whole Foods, which has about 200 stores, rang up less than $5.61 billion in sales in its fiscal year ended in September 2006, while Wild Oats has annual sales of about $1.2 billion. By comparison, Kroger Co, the largest mainstream, U.S. grocery chain, posted $66.1 billion in sales for its fiscal year ended in February and has more than 2,460 grocery stores.
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