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US: Walgreens, Rite Aid push back $9.4 Billion merger deadline

By  |  October 20, 2016

Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid Corp. pushed out the deadline to close their $9.4 billion merger to next year amid delays in selling stores the two sides have to divest to get the deal past federal regulators.

The companies now expect to close the deal in early 2017, as the previous timetable of completing the transaction by the end of this year is no longer feasible. The companies expect to agree to sell between 500 and 1,000 stores by the end of 2016, though any transactions will also require approval from the Federal Trade Commission.

The delay is the latest adjustment to a deal that was announced almost one year ago after Walgreens said in September it would have to divest more stores than it previously expected. And it comes at a time when federal authorities have scuttled several other transactions, including the merger of Staples Inc. and Office DepotInc. and Electrolux AB’s acquisition of General Electric Co.’s appliance business.

Full Content: The Wall Street Journal

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