Amazon to Purchase Whole Foods for $13.4B

Amazon (Seattle) announced this morning that it will acquire Whole Foods Market (Austin, Texas) for $13.4 billion to expand its grocery business. The deal comes amid pressure from Whole Foods shareholders who became frustrated by the grocer's stagnant stock price, The New York Times reports.

Under the terms of the deal, Amazon would pay $42 per share, a 27 percent premium to yesterday's closing price, says The Times.

Last month, Whole Foods announced its plans to improve operations and cut costs. It shuffled its executive board and replaced five directors, naming a new chair and new cfo. Amazon has made public its intent to push forward into the fresh food market, slowly introducing a fleet of physical retail stores and delivering groceries in select metropolitan markets via its AmazonFresh service.

The deal is expected to close later this year.