Amazon has taken a major step into the grocery business by acquiring Whole Foods for $13.7bn – Amazon’s biggest acquisition to date. The deal gives Amazon the opportunity to target the $800bn US grocery market, and leverage some of Whole Foods in the rest of its operations. Amazon paid a premium of 28% on the share price of Whole Foods in cash, in a deal that includes all Whole Foods’ debt. On the Friday of the announcement, the share price of the incumbents in the grocery market took a pounding – with Kroger’s falling 12% by lunchtime. This reaction indicates that the market is confident the combined operation will be successful in grabbing a larger slice of the grocery market.…