FTC Approves Amazon + Whole Foods Merger

by **Admin** Thu Aug 24, 2017 6:34 am

The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it's looked into whether the merger would hurt competition and has decided to drop its investigation.

"We have decided not to pursue this matter further," the FTC said in a statement.

No other government agencies need to give their okay.

"As far as antitrust approval, it's done," said James Cooper, an economics professor at George Mason University and former FTC official.

Earlier Wednesday, Whole Foods (WFM) shareholders voted to approve the takeover, which has sailed along since it was announced in June.

Amazon said on Wednesday the deal is on track to be completed. Its initial announcement said it expects the deal to close in the second half of 2017.

Meanwhile, many traditional brick-and-mortar stores are scrambling.

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