SEATTLE –– Amazon.com said Friday that it would buy Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, its biggest acquisition ever and a huge move into the grocery business it’s been trying to crack for a decade.
The deal, expected to close in the second half of this year, gives Amazon –– which has been experimenting with various physical store concepts to make establish itself as a food purveyor – an instant expanse of 460 high-end stores across the U.S., in Canada and in the U.K.
Amazon agreed to pay $42 per share for the Austin, Texas-based grocer in an all-cash transaction, a 27 percent premium over Thursday’s closing stock price. The transaction, will be financed with debt, according to securities filings. The break-up fee was set at $400 million.
Amazon shares rose 23.5 percent Friday after the deal was announced. Shares of Whole Foods rose 29 percent, to $42.68, above Amazon’s offered price.
Shares of competitors Wal-Mart, Kroger and Costco Wholesale fell on the news.