Legal Win Lifts Whole Foods, Wild Oats

As for the FTC's claims, Whalin says they don't hold water. "It was a silly lawsuit in the first place," Whalin says. "Kroger is in organics, so is Safeway, so is every other supermarket chain, and they're getting stronger in it."

Tuitele says it will take about two years to integrate Wild Oats into Whole Foods. The companies plan to shutter overlapping stores, although they have not yet determined which ones. Tuitele says Wild Oats store employees have been told that they will keep their jobs under the merged company.

Whole Foods has already said that it plans to transfer all 35 Henry's and Sun Harvest store locations under Wild Oats, as well as a Riverside, Calif. distribution center, to a wholly owned subsidiary of Smart & Final, a Los Angeles-based food retailer privately held and controlled by private-equity firm Apollo Management.

Elsewhere, the FTC's defeat sent shares of radio merger partners Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) and XM Satellite Radio (XMSR) climbing Friday.

That pending deal has also been plagued by antitrust concerns since the two companies are the nation's only satellite-radio operators. Investors were betting, though, that the Whole Foods ruling could bode well for Sirius and XM's efforts to push the deal through.

Shares of Sirius were up 9 cents, or 3.3%, to $2.80. XM shares were up 23 cents, or 2.2%, to $10.78.

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