Amazon primed for merger battle
The proposed $13.7 billion merger of Amazon and Whole Foods is primed to set off a massive lobbying effort in Washington.
Amazon has been moving into new markets and seeking ways to deliver products faster to customers, including a drone fleet for local deliveries, making the Whole Foods deal just the latest example of its growing ambitions.
Some industry analysts say the deal should face a relatively smooth path to federal approval because Whole Foods only represents a 1.2 percent share of the $800 billion grocery market, while Amazon only has a 0.2 percent share.
Under antitrust law, regulators examine whether a deal would eliminate competition and whether consumers, through price changes and other factors, would be harmed. Amazon, which serves as both a traditional retail outlet and a platform for other sellers, has metrics more complex than just any other store.
Under antitrust law, regulators examine whether a deal would eliminate competition and whether consumers, through price changes and other factors, would be harmed. Amazon, which serves as both a traditional retail outlet and a platform for other sellers, has metrics more complex than just any other store.
But there may be several other factors that come into play for the review of the Amazon-Whole Foods deal.
“This big deal is a big deal in both an antitrust way and in a more colloquial Joe Biden way,” said Jonathan Becker, the head of the judiciary practice at lobbying firm Invariant, referencing the former vice president’s comments that the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 was a “big f---ing deal.”
“There’s real pent-up demand to go after the online platforms for their market dominance, and real fear among the supermarkets and other industries that could be impacted by Amazon,” Becker said, noting that there had been a perception that the Obama administration was too cozy with tech companies like Google. “This could be the tip of the spear of that effort.”
Amazon has steadily increased its lobbying since announcing its drone delivery service, Amazon Prime Air, in 2013.
The company went from spending $2.5 million per year on lobbying in 2012 to surpassing that amount in a single quarter now.
During the first three months of 2017, Amazon shelled out $2.9 million to advocate before the federal government.
The company has 13 firms on retainer, including Squire Patton Boggs, Monument Policy Group, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Ballard Partners, a firm with lobbyists close to President Trump.
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