Whole Foods Market, Inc., Austin, TX, and Wild Oats Markets, Inc., Boulder, CO, have been legally cleared to proceed with their merger as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied the FTC’s request for a stay to preclude the closing of the merger pending the FTC’s appeal and has dissolved the August 20, 2007 administrative injunction, which had prevented the transaction from going forward while the court considered the FTC’s motion.

“We are pleased to have cleared what we expect to be our last legal hurdle,” said John Mackey, chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Whole Foods Market. “We look forward to closing this merger.”
 
According to the Wall Street Journal, the FTC still could try to fight the deal by pursuing an administrative court proceeding. However, such proceedings can take a year or longer, and by then Whole Foods and Wild Oats would already be far along in combining their operations. The FTC has said that only under unusual circumstances would it pursue administrative trials when a merger is already under way. A spokeswoman for FTC said that the commission is reviewing its options.