Whole Foods Completes Wild Oats Deal

AUSTIN, Texas — Whole Foods here yesterday said it has purchased most of the stock of Wild Oats following the closure of an $18.50 per share tender offer on Monday and has secured a five-year, $700 million loan to finance the deal. It has also signed a new five-year, $250 million revolving credit agreement to replace an existing $200 million revolver. Whole Foods also said it expects to complete the previously disclosed sale of its Henry’s and Sun Harvest banners and a distribution center in Riverside, Calif., to Smart & Final, Los Angeles, by the end of September. An undisclosed number of additional Wild Oats locations — previously reported to be 30 — will also be closed, Whole Foods said. Wild Oats currently operates 109 stores, including the 35 Henry’s and Sun Harvest stores in California and Texas that are to be sold to Smart & Final.

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