Whole Foods offers settlement to FTC
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The supermarket chain has proposed a consent agreement to the Federal Trade Commission to settle the antitrust case against Whole Foods' 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets. FTC reports Jan. 29 that it is withdrawing the matter from adjudication to consider the proposed settlement until Feb. 5, when the agency will announce whether it will proceed with an administrative trial scheduled for April 6. FTC and Whole Foods declined to disclose details of the non-public settlement offer. On Jan. 15, Whole Foods re-filed a complaint in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit charging that FTC's administrative trial deprives the Austin, Texas-based company of its due process and equal protection rights (1"The Tan Sheet" Dec. 15, 2008, In Brief)
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