Whole Foods Markets (WFM)

[north40000]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-to-buy-whole-foods-for-13-7-billion-1497618446?mod=djemalertNEWS

"Amazon . AMZN +3.25% com Inc. said it would buy Whole Foods Market WFM +26.69% Inc. for $13.7 billion as the giant internet retailer makes a deeper push into the grocery space.

Amazon will pay $42 a share for Whole Foods, valuing the grocer at a 27% premium to its closing price Thursday. The deal is by far the largest in Amazon’s history, and it is expected to close in the second half of this year.

Amazon has worked for years to build its Fresh grocery delivery business, but its share of the market is just a sliver. The Seattle-based online retail giant has recently tested brick-and-mortar grocery concepts, including two AmazonFresh Pick Up locations in its hometown, as it works to grab a bigger piece of the more than $600 billion edible food consumer spending category.

Still, at first glance, the two don’t seem to be a match. Amazon is known as a low-price leader, while Whole Foods is more of a premium offering. The company culture, strong brand loyalty, and its network of grocery stores was likely a draw.

While grocery accounts for a large component of consumer sales overall, online retailers have largely been unable to fully crack the code. They face hurdles like consumers wanting to pick their own produce and the need to deliver perishable, fresh and frozen food to people’s homes.

Whole Foods has roughly 450 locations spread out across 42 states. The move could allow Amazon to reach customers closer to their homes and even sell more than just groceries. Amazon’s bookstores also sell its electronic products like book readers, tablets and media streaming devices.


Amazon’s move tanked the stocks of grocery competitors as investors worried that Amazon could do to grocery the same as it did to booksellers. Kroger Co. shares fell 14%, Target Corp. shares fell 12%, Supervalu Inc. shares fell 19%, Costco Wholesale Corp. shares fell 6.2% and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares dropped 5.8%.

Amazon’s newfound foothold in brick-and-mortar grocery comes at a time when the grocery industry is already reeling from competition, with discounters like Aldi expanding in the U.S. and more customers shopping for groceries online.

Amazon has been inching into Kroger Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s territory in recent years at a rapid rate. Americans’ shopping trips online have risen 6.8% over the past year, compared with a 0.5% increase in overall grocery trips, according to Nielsen.

Online grocery shopping accounted for 2% of sales in the sector last year, according to Kantar Retail. Before the Amazon deal announcement, the share was projected to grow to 3% by 2021.

Amazon’s low prices have partly forced rival grocers to sharpen their deals in return. Kroger on Thursday said traditional grocers are competing for the $1.5 trillion Americans spend on food—whether that is a fast-food restaurant, convenience store or online. “We have to redefine the market as share of stomach,” Kroger Chief Rodney McMullen told investors Thursday. Kroger, which lowered its earnings forecast for the year, set off a wave of declines in grocery stocks, with its shares falling 19%.

EARLIER

Whole Foods Aimed to Be More Than a Supermarket (April 12)
Whole Foods Overhauls Board(May 10)
David Ciancio, a senior customer strategist for Dunnhumby and former Kroger executive, said “this is the most difficult time I’ve seen for the industry, and I’ve been in it 47 years.”

Whole Foods has also faced some unique struggles as traditional grocers expand their natural and organic offerings that have been the mainstay of the company.

Activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, the company’s second-largest shareholder with a roughly 7% stake, and mutual-fund giant Neuberger Berman, which owns 2.7% of the stock have been pressing Whole Foods to consider a sale and add directors with experience in retail operations, technology, finance and real estate.

Shares of Amazon rose 2.9% to $992.43 in early trading, while Whole Foods shares ramped up 27% to $41.99, just below the deal price.

John Mackey will remain as chief executive of Whole Foods and the store will continue to operate under its brand and maintain its suppliers.

Whole Foods’ stock has lost nearly half of its value since peaking in 2013, as its same-store-sales have persistently fallen since September 2015.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail], Annie Gasparro at [e-mail] and Laura Stevens at [e-mail]"