Robert Riegel, a shareholder of Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc., filed a law suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to block the company’s sale to Seattle-based Amazon.
The suit says the deal undervalues Whole Foods and lacks sufficient transparency.
Whole Foods’ proxy statement filed July 7 is “misleading,” Riegel claims.
The suit says:
“The proxy statement states that, in connection with negotiating the merger agreement, Amazon had preliminary discussions with certain Whole Foods executive officers regarding Amazon’s desire to retain such officers following the closing. However, the proxy fails to disclose the timing and nature of all communications regarding the future employment and/or benefits relating to Whole Foods management.”
Riegel’s suit hopes to block the acquisition, and is seeking class action status.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey has previously been quoted as saying the meeting between Whole Foods and Amazon executives was “love at first sight,” and “a blind date,” and “not a Tinder relationship.”
The remarks were pulled from a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
[Mackey] So I just— putting it a little bit in narrative form— how did we meet? It was actually mutual friends set us up on a blind date. (LAUGHTER) And— Jason Buechel and Ken Meyer and David Lannon and I flew up to Seattle a little over six weeks ago. And— it— we just fell in love. It was truly love at first sight. (LAUGHTER)
I’m very serious. It’s like we came outta there. We talked for 2 1/2 hours. I think we coulda talked for 10 hours. And— when we huddled together, it was like we just had— we just had these big grins on our faces, like, “These guys are amazing.” They’re so smart. They’re so authentic. They say what’s on their mind. They’re not playin’ a bunch of BS games. And it was like, “This is gonna be so incredible.” ‘Cause we were talkin’ about the things we can do together, things that I cannot talk about today and won’t be able to talk about until this deal closes.
So— it’s been a whirlwind courtship. Because— little over six weeks after we met on this blind date, we’re— we’re f— officially engaged.
Amazon made its offer in late May to buy Whole Foods, and the companies eventually agreed on a $13.7 billion sale, announced June 16.