Amazon to purchase Whole Foods for $13.7B

Amazon will purchase grocery store chain Whole Foods in a $13.7 billion deal announced Friday, pending shareholder and regulator approval. 

“Millions of people love Whole Foods Market because they offer the best natural and organic foods, and they make it fun to eat healthy,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement.

Whole Foods iconic CEO John Mackey will remain at the helm of his company, per the stipulations of the deal, which comes as Amazon makes increasing inroads into the grocery store market.

{mosads}The acquisition will be Amazon’s largest since it acquired the video service platform and video gaming community Twitch in 2014 for $970 million.

The deal comes as Amazon makes increasing inroads into the grocery market. The company recently unveiled its “Prime Now,” service delivering goods, like groceries, within one to two hours of consumers making an order, along with its AmazonFresh grocery service.

Amazon also had recently debuted its Amazon Go, pickup grocery stores in Seattle. The acquisition will help Amazon expand its brick and mortar reach, with roughly roughly 450 Whole Foods stores across 42 states. 

The internet commerce company has made successful expansions into a plethora of industries over the last several years, including video and film streaming services, music streaming and its extremely successful cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services.

Updated at 10:03 a.m.