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Amazon faces some regulatory hurdles before it can consume Whole Foods:
The top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives' antitrust subcommittee has voiced concerns about Amazon.com Inc's $13.7 billion plan to buy Whole Foods Market Inc and is pushing for a hearing to look into the deal's potential impact on consumers.
The deal announced in June marks the biggest acquisition for the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has not said what it will do with Whole Foods' stores and other assets, but analysts and investors worry the move could upend the landscape for grocers, food delivery services and meal-kit companies.
U.S. Representative David Cicilline requested the hearing on Thursday in a letter to the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and the subcommittee chairman. Shares of Amazon were up 0.3 percent in mid-morning trading on Friday. "Amazon's proposed purchase of Whole Foods could impact neighborhood grocery stores and hardworking consumers across America," Cicilline said in a statement. "Congress has a responsibility to fully scrutinize this merger before it goes ahead."
The deal must be approved by U.S. antitrust enforcers, in this case most likely the Federal Trade Commission.
From U.S. Congressman David N. Cicilline's letter:
Some have also raised concerns that the transaction will also increase Amazon's online dominance, enabling it to prioritize its products and services over competitors. Amazon uses its e-commerce platform, which reaches nearly half of American online shoppers, "to spot new products to sell, test sales of potential new goods, and exert more control over pricing."[5] Expanding its retail footprint through this transaction may increase the risks of self-dealing and preferential treatment of its goods on this platform.[6] According to a report by ProPublica Amazon's pricing algorithm favors Amazon and its sellers by favoring "its own products ahead of better deals offered by others it charges for services."[7] Acquiring additional sources of consumer data through this transaction may increase the risk of self-dealing or enable Amazon to leverage its platform over other businesses.[8] As Gene Kimmelman, the President of Public Knowledge, recently observed, questions of platform dominance should be taken seriously to ensure that "no company uses its market power to foreclose competition, or to leverage its success in one market to gain an unfair advantage in another."[9]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 15 2017, @05:49AM (1 child)
You dare say this, about a FA about Whole Foods? Are you an idiot? Or are you a Republican? But I repeat myself. Yes, American markets are more and more distanced from actual value and productivity, an aimed at Trump style branding, which is all the Whole Food is an ever was. Actually productive! Ha! Try a Farmer's Market, if you can find one that has actually farmers in it. All the ones I have come across are goddamed wholesalers, trying to fuck over both me, and the retail outlets. So I no longer go there. I do not buy from Amazon. I am in a coccoon, silently waiting, until the conditions on the surface are once again favorable for my species. If you are of the same species, stop buy. I have a wonder deal on Kale at the moment.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday July 15 2017, @11:26AM
I get we're going to have a zillion posts about how unproductive Whole Foods is compared to the massive number of imaginary ways of getting food there are. But it wouldn't be worth almost 14 billion dollars to Amazon, if it were unproductive in reality.
Branding gets a lot of disrespect from people who don't get it. But a lot of people heavily value a consistent, positive experience on demand. A good brand provides that.