ASSOCIATED PRESS: Pharmacy giant purchases competitor for $9.41 billion in cash.
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Pharmacy giant purchases competitor for $9.41 billion in cash.
The deal combines the largest and third-largest U.S. drugstore chains, based on store counts. And it makes 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.
Walgreens said it will pay $9 for each share of Rite Aid Corp. That’s a 48 percent premium to Rite Aid’s closing price of $6.08 Monday. Shares of both companies jumped Tuesday after The Wall Street Journal first reported the deal.
