Wild Oats Markets Inc

washington -- Federal regulators filed court documents Tuesday that revealed confidential details about Whole Foods Market Inc.'s proposed $565-million purchase of Wild Oats Markets Inc. The Federal Trade Commission, which opposes the merger on antitrust grounds, outlined concerns that stores in competitive markets would close and consumers would face higher prices for organic and natural foods if the deal goes through.

Supermarket king Ron Burkle is expanding from carrots to carats. His Los Angeles investment firm, Yucaipa Cos., said Tuesday that it was acquiring Garrard, the British supplier of jewels to the royal family and the merely rich for 271 years. Privately held Yucaipa is paying almost $30 million for the luxury goods company.

A federal appeals court on Thursday cleared the way for Whole Foods Market Inc. to buy rival organic grocer Wild Oats Markets Inc. The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied a request by the Federal Trade Commission to delay the $565-million sale pending an appeal's outcome. Whole Foods lawyers argued that such a ruling would have killed the deal. Last week, U.S. District Judge Paul L.

Satellite television operator EchoStar Communications Corp., which operates the Dish network, said Tuesday that its third-quarter profit tumbled 33% compared with the year-earlier period, which was boosted by a tax benefit. Net income fell to $140 million, or 31 cents a share, from $209 million, or 46 cents, a year earlier. Last year's results were aided by a tax benefit of $73 million. Quarterly revenue rose 16% to $2.47 billion.

Underscoring the growing backlash against agricultural biotechnology in the U.S., the nation's two largest natural food supermarket chains said Thursday that they will ban genetically modified ingredients from their hundreds of private-label products. Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc., which operates 103 stores in 22 states, and 110-store Wild Oats Markets Inc. of Boulder, Colo.

Shares of Wild Oats Markets Inc. rose nearly 3% on investor speculation of a takeover Friday, a day after the company said it could not reach an agreement to renew the contract of Chief Executive Perry Odak. But analysts expressed doubt that the retailer of health and organic foods would be sold. They said the changes underway at the company reflected the increasing influence of Los Angeles grocery magnate Ron Burkle, whose Yucaipa Cos. owns 17% of the Boulder, Colo.-based chain.

boulder, colo. -- The Flatiron Mountains jutting , Barry Milner sips a beet-and-carrot juice in the shade outside a Wild Oats Marketplace, hoping to ward off a slight summer cold. Milner, 63, travels the country teaching Shambhala meditation. He's an easygoing preacher of the virtues of a healthy mind and body who fits this haven of holistic living as much as it fits him. "I think the spirit of Boulder is health, but of course there's fanaticism everywhere," he says.

It looks like Los Angeles billionaire Ronald Burkle is on a shopping spree. On Thursday the supermarket mogul disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had purchased a 7% stake in Whole Foods Market Inc. Last week Burkle revealed in another filing that he had acquired an 8.3% stake in the Barnes & Noble Inc. book chain. In both cases, Burkle said he believed the shares of the companies were undervalued.

Los Angeles grocery magnate Ron Burkle, who became a billionaire by buying and turning around supermarket chains, is setting his sights on the owner of Albertsons and Bristol Farms stores in Southern California. Supervalu Inc., the nation's second-largest grocery chain, said Thursday that Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. plans to buy as much as $680 million worth of Supervalu's stock, or about 12%.

Whole Foods Market Inc. announced a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission on Friday that ended the government's efforts to unwind the grocer's 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets Inc. The FTC said the combination of the two natural and organic food retailers threatened competition and violated antitrust regulations.