Amazon will be buying Whole Food for $13.7 billion, according to a press release from Whole Foods this morning.
In the press release, Whole Foods stated that Amazon will be buying up all of their shares. Costing $42 per share, the total comes out to $13.7 billion and will be paid for in cash.
In response to the acquisition, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is happy with Amazon’s newest purchase which will help expand their food marketing.
“Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy,” said Bezos, “Whole Foods Market has been satisfying, delighting and nourishing customers for nearly four decades – they’re doing an amazing job and we want that to continue.”
Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey is also happy with Amazon buying Whole Foods, saying that he wants Whole Foods to continue to expand.
“This partnership presents an opportunity to maximize value for Whole Foods Market’s shareholders, while at the same time extending our mission and bringing the highest quality, experience, convenience and innovation to our customers,” said Mackey.
The closing of the acquisition will likely take place in the second half of 2017. Whole Foods will continue to run like normal, Mackey will still remain the CEO of Whole Foods and the Whole Foods headquarters will stay in Austin, TX.
The news of acquisition comes just a day after Amazon announced that they will bring Prime Now to Denver. Amazon Prime users can have fresh groceries from Sprouts Farmers Market delivered to them in either one hour or two hour delivery times. It seems that Amazon is covering all their bases with organic food services by trying to make them accessible to everyone.
“We are excited to continue enhancing the Prime experience for customers in Denver with Amazon’s fastest delivery method yet, Prime Now,” said Simoina Vasen, Director of Prime Now. “Customers in Denver can enjoy the convenience of superfast delivery of tens of thousands of items from milk, paper towels and Amazon devices to groceries from Sprouts Farmers Market delivered right to their door with free two-hour delivery.”
Prime Now will cost $7.99 for a one-hour delivery and free for a two-hour delivery. Even if you don’t want to lay out the extra $8, you can still be sent fresh groceries for free if you are an Amazon Prime user. Users can get groceries and other things from Prime Now or Sprouts Farmers Market seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“We are thrilled to offer Sprouts’ healthy and affordable products to Denver customers through Amazon Prime Now,” said Sprouts chief marketing officer Shawn Gensch in a press release from Amazon. “This new offering brings fresh, natural and organic products to customers to help them on their healthy living journey.”
Prime Now grocery services have also been available in Seattle since late January, using New Seasons Market and others for their delivery service. New Seasons Market is a West coast organic grocery store, showing that Amazon has been particularly interested in organic food services.
“Our customers love the convenience of getting all their grocery favorites from Diet Coke to more unique items like Page Tangerines from New Seasons in one quick delivery from Prime Now,” said Wendy Collie CEO of New Seasons Market in a press release from Amazon. “We are thrilled to offer this service to introduce our selection to our growing customer base here in Seattle.”
It is currently unknown if Whole Foods will be used for Prime Now deliveries, but with Amazon’s recent foray into grocery shopping online, it seems likely that Whole Foods will become part of it.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.
