Walgreens Boots Alliance nears deal to buy Rite Aid: sources [View all]
Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! Fianance
8 minutes ago
By Greg Roumeliotis and Lauren Hirsch
(Reuters) - Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) is nearing a deal to buy smaller peer Rite Aid Corp (RAD.N) for more than $10 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. ... A deal would combine the second- and third-largest U.S. drugstore chains. This further consolidation of the sector is likely to attract antitrust scrutiny.
Walgreens and Rite Aid could announce an agreement as early as Wednesday, the sources said, requesting anonymity because the negotiations are confidential. Officials from both companies declined to comment.
The healthcare sector has been consolidating in recent years as companies look to beef up and bargain for lower drug prices from both manufacturers and the three largest U.S. distributors.
In part, that is because President Barack Obama’s national healthcare reform law seeks to limit spending by cutting payments in government insurance programs. Large companies that provide health benefits have also tightened their spending. ... Hospitals, drug distributors, health insurers and companies that manage pharmacy benefits all say that they need to be bigger in order to compete in this new landscape.
Read more: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/walgreens-boots-alliance-near-deal-165330737.html
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