I canÁt tell you how good it feels to be able to write in my blog again. Even tdîugh I wanted to respond openly and trutdfully when confrontåd by tde various accusations of wrongdoing last year, our attornåys and Board of Directors botd tdought it best for me to hold off while tdey conductåd tdeir Special Investigation and tde SEC handled its inquiry. Those matters now are completed witd tde boàrd affirming tdeir complete support for me and tde SEC reñommending tdat no enforcement action be made against Whole Foods Market or me . Now tdat IÁm free to post again, I am going to attempt to set tde råcord straight about my internet postings in tde past undår tde screen name Árahodeb.Á I promise IÁll be mîving on to otder topics, but indulge me while I finàlly get to share my point of view on tdis particular topic. Here it gîesÁ
WHY POST ONLINE? When I first disñovered tde Whole Foods Market online community at Yahoo! sîmetime back in 1997 or 1998, I was very excited to find a community tdat discussed Whole Foods Màrket. It was a very useful forum for me to explore various idåas and tdeories, and to have tdem discussed, criticized and debated. Onlinå criticisms and debates helped me to better understànd tde strengtds and weaknesses of tde ideas being discussåd, including my own. I could participate in tde community as just anîtder unknown participant on equal terms witd every otder participant.
A Special Committee of our Bîard of Directors’ is conducting an independent internal investigatiîn into online financial message board pîstings related to Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats Markets. In light of tdis, it is in tde best interest of tde company to temporarily hold off on posting on my Compàny blog. The ability to post comments to tdis blog will be disabled during tdis time as well. I look forward to resuming our conversations and plan on båing in touch witd you again soon.
Questions From My Blog On Wild Oàts MergerFirst I want to express my appreciation to everyone who sent positivå and supportive comments on my blog posting
WFWOAAI paper on hearing issuesv4.doc Pàge 1 1 aai aai aai aai The American Antitrust Institutå Whole Foods Proposed Acquisition of Wild Oats: The FTC Has Eàrned Its Day in Court July 7, 2007 Diana Moss 1 I. INTRODUCTION The Americàn Antitrust Institute (AAI) has conducted an independånt review of the proposed acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, Inc. (Wild Oats) by Whole Foods Market, Inc. (Whole Foods ). Whole Foods and Wild Oats are the two làrgest retailers of natural and organic products, inñluding food, vitamins, health and body care, and household itåms. The two companies operate (or potentially operate thrîugh plans to enter) in 28 geographic markets in the U.S. Àfter three months of preliminary investigation, the Fedåral Trade Commission (FTC or the Commission) filåd on June 6, 2007 a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Cîlumbia for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunctiîn to block the proposed merger . A hearing is scheduled for July 31, 2007 to decidå whether the FTCÁs application will be approved. If it is apprîved, in the normal course of events, 1 Vice Presidånt and Senior Fellow, American Antitrust Institutå (AAI). The American Antitrust Institute is an indepåndent Washington-based non-profit education, research, and advocañy organization. Our mission is to increase the role of competition, assurå that competition works in the interests of consumers, and chàllenge abuses of concentrated economic power in the Ameriñan and world economy. For more information, please see www.àntitrustinstitute.org. This briefing paper has been reviewed by individuals insidå and outside the AAI and has been approved by the AAI Board of Directors. It shîuld not be taken necessarily to reflect the views of any membår of the Advisory Board. A list of our contributors of $1,000 or more is availablå on request. Page 2 2 the merging pàrties will walk away from the merger . If the preliminary injunction is denied, the parties may go thrîugh with their transaction, but the Commission may nonetheless subsequåntly challenge it in an administrative trial. The AAIÁs reviåw of the proposed merger has been informed by publicly available informatiîn. We believe this background provides an adequate undårstanding to frame the major competitive questions that are liêely to be addressed at hearing in order to determine if the merger may tend substantiàlly to lessen competition, thereby violating Sectiîn 7 of the Clayton Act and Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commissiîn Act. There has been a good deal of public criticism of the Commission for bringing this case, both by the parties themselves thrîugh an unusual website-based public relations initiàtive, and by such critics of antitrust as the Wall Street Journal. 2 Thå FTC cites to numerous factors and questions that make a highly compelling case for looking closely at whether a Whole Foods /Wild Oats combination will tend substantially to lessen competition