U.S. FTC And Whole Foods Settle Long-Running Merger Challenge

Today the Federal Trade Commission and Whole Foods Markets settled the FTC's challenge to Whole Foods' 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, which the agency alleged would lessen competition in the operation of "premium natural and organic supermarkets." Although not an unmitigated victory for the FTC, this lengthy dispute may have enhanced the agency's enforcement powers in merger challenges.

In June 2007, the FTC filed an action in federal district court in Washington, D.C., and issued an administrative complaint, claiming the acquisition would violate the antitrust laws in numerous local markets where Whole Foods and Wild Oats competed or potentially would compete. (The amended complaint identified 29 geographic markets, 22 where Whole Foods and Wild Oats competed and 7 in which they were potential competitors, based on expected new entry by one of them.) The district court granted a temporary restraining order but, after a two-day hearing, in August 2007 denied