The FTC will not be blocking Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods: the takeover has received key federal approval, just a few hours after Whole Foods’ shareholders voted to approve the merger in a meeting at company headquarters in Austin, Texas. Amazon is expected to get the grocery chain’s more than 460 brick-and-mortar stores, as well as priceless data about its shoppers.



The deal — and potential acquisition of more than 460 physical locations — signals a turning point for Amazon, which for years has struggled to break into the $800 billion U.S. grocery business. The company’s decade-old AmazonFresh delivery service has been slow to take off, accounting for 0.8 percent of all grocery purchases last year. Walmart, by comparison, sold 17.3 percent of the country’s groceries, while Kroger sold 8.9 percent, according to Bloomberg data.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – FTC Clears Amazon’s Purchase of Whole Foods Market