Read the case and answer the questions.

$.$ Since the beginning of $2016,$ Whole Foods had been facing problems due to declining sales, growing competition, and increasingly price$-$conscious consumers. In February $2017,$ Whole Foods, which had reported a sales decline at its stores for seven consecutive quarters $(4$Q $2015-1$Q $2017),$ came under pressure from activist investor Jana Partners LLC to consider putting itself up for sale. On June $16,2017,$ Amazon acquired Whole Foods in a US$$13\mathrm{.}7$ billion all$-$cash transaction. Post$-$acquisition, Whole Foods continued to operate stores under the Whole Foods Market brand with John Mackey $($Mackey$)$ remaining its CEO. Going forward, there were several challenges before Amazon$$s CEO Jeff Bezos

Discussion Questions. $(5$ marks each$)$

$1.$ How can they successfully unleash the value of the merger?

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