Amazon Prime just got a little more healthy—both in terms of food and in terms of its portfolio.
In a landmark deal, Amazon will buy Whole Foods for $13.7 billion as the e-commerce giant looks to expand further into the grocery business. It’s Amazon’s largest acquisition to date.
The company currently has offers grocery delivery through its Amazon Fresh service. Bloomberg reports that the Whole Foods acquisition is about getting a distribution network for Amazon Fresh since it has not been as successful as other Amazon ventures.
Whole Foods was likely pressured into the deal in order to fend off investors frustrated with its stock price, according to the New York Times. The upscale supermarket chain recently replaced some of its board members and debuted a new plan to cut the cost of operations. The purchase gives Whole Foods a wealthy backer with ambitious goals.
For Amazon, the acquisition puts the company in a better position to compete with rival Walmart, which has aggressively been pursuing the e-commerce market.
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