ML-Implode News - Amazon to Buy Whole Foods in $13.4 Billion Deal

Amazon said on Friday that it had agreed to buy the upscale supermarket chain Whole Foods for $13.4 billion, in the online retailer's latest push into the grocery business.
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Amazon has designs on expanding beyond online retail into physical stores. The company is slowly building a fleet of outlets, and much attention has been focused on its grocery store dreams. It has already made an initial push through AmazonFresh, its grocery delivery service.
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The e-commerce giant has been testing a variety of other retail concepts. It has opened a convenience store that does not need cashiers, and has explored another grocery store concept that could serve walk-in customers and act as a hub for home deliveries.

Under the terms of the proposed deal, Amazon would pay $42 a share, a 27 percent premium to Thursday's closing price.

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Amazon to Buy Whole Foods in $13.4 Billion Deal