Amazon buys Whole Foods for $13.7 billion

Amazon.com jolted the grocery industry Friday when it announced plans to buy Whole Foods Market, introducing new uncertainty to a sector already struggling to keep up with growing competition.

The $13.7 billion deal heightens a years-long battle between Amazon, the Internet darling, and powerhouse merchants such as Walmart, which recently beefed up its online operations with a $3.3 billion purchase of an Amazon competitor.

Now Seattle-based Amazon — which for years has been testing grocery innovations in quiet corners — could lay claim to a fleet of more than 460 stores throughout the United States, Canada and Britain.

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