Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid’s giant drugstore merger got smaller today after the companies said they would cut the value of the deal, may divest more stores to satisfy antitrust regulators and will extend the deadline by which the takeover will be completed.
Walgreens will now pay $6.50 to $7 a share for Rite Aid, the companies said today, giving the deal a value of $6.84 billion to $7.37 billion. That’s down from the $9 a share, or $9.4 billion, announced in 2015.
The exact price will depend on how many stores the companies have to divest, raising the ceiling to 1,200 stores, up from 1,000 when the deal was announced.
The announcement is the latest blow to the drug chains’ attempt to combine. The new agreement also includes a six-month extension to July 31, after the companies had already announced a previous extension.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Walgreens’s plan to win antitrust clearance for its acquisition of Rite Aid hadn’t satisfied FTC officials. The agency’s lawyers reviewing the deal weren’t sold on Walgreens’ plan to resolve competition concerns by selling stores to Fred’s, another retail chain, people familiar with the process said at the time.
Full Content: Fortune
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
UK Probes Lindab’s Acquisition of HAS-Vent Amid Fears of Market Monopoly
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Shein Faces EU Regulations Over User Data
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Google Fights Back Against US Antitrust Lawsuit
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
US Homeland Security Establishes Blue-Ribbon Board with Tech CEOs to Advise on AI
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
FTC Accuses Amazon Executives of Using Disappearing Messaging Apps to Conceal Evidence
Apr 28, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI