The largest US drugstore chain by store count said on Tuesday it would buy rival Rite Aid Corp for $9.4 billion to widen its footprint in the United States and negotiate for lower drug costs. Walgreens and Rite Aid officials declined to comment.
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The $9-a-share cash deal would combine the second- and third-largest USA drugstore chains by sales, creating the largest US retail pharmacy chain in numbers of stores.
That tie-up would make one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical buyers even bigger at a time when other key health care players like insurers and drugmakers also are expanding through multi-billion dollar deals.
Rite Aid shares fell 6.3 percent to $8.12 in extended trading after the deal was announced, reflecting speculation that the deal will face antitrust scrutiny.
The transaction will add to Walgreens’ earnings after the deal has been complete for a full year, the companies said Tuesday in a statement. The deal is worth $17.2 billion when debt is included, the companies said.
Walgreens says it will pay $9 per share for Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based Rite Aid Corp. That combination created Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., which runs more than 13,200 stores and 350 distribution centers in 11 countries. Besides its namesake stores, Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens also owns Duane Reade stores in the U.S.
It comes less than year after Walgreens bought European health and beauty retailer Alliance Boots.
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“Walgreens buying the Rite Aid chain gives the company more than just stores, though it will get a lot those”.
