Whole Foods To Buy Rival Wild Oats for $565 Million
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Whole Foods Market Inc., America’s largest natural-foods grocer, said it agreed to buy Wild Oats Markets Inc. for $565 million after reporting its first profit decline in five quarters. Whole Foods will pay $18.50 in cash for each share of Boulder, Colo.-based Wild Oats. Net income in the first-quarter fell to $53.8 million, or 38 cents a share, from $58.3 million, or 40 cents, a year earlier, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods said yesterday. Earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Buying Wild Oats will help counter slowing growth at Whole Foods, which faced more competition from Safeway Inc., Trader Joe’s, and other grocery stores that increased their organic and prepared food. Sales at Whole Foods stores open at least a year rose 7% in the first quarter, down from 13% a year earlier.
