Walgreens is taking over some of your Rite Aids
Walgreens, the big drugstore chain, is going to take over more Rite Aid drugstores — though not as many as it wanted.
Walgreens Boots Alliance agreed to buy about 250 fewer stores from Rite Aid than it had previously planned to acquire. The deal comes as part of a revised plan that has received regulatory approval after multiple previous deals had flopped.
Walgreens said Tuesday it had received the government’s signoff to take over 1,932 Rite Aid stores and three distribution centers.
The revised deal preserves the three largest drugstore chains as independent entities, but the new agreement will still make Walgreens the nation’s largest by number of locations, edging archrival CVS Health.
Walgreens will have nearly 10,000 locations after the deal. CVS has more than 9,600.
Rite Aid will still have more than 2,500 locations.
The company will pay $4.4 billion and assume leases. It will also authorize Rite Aid to take ad- vantage of its much larger size and clout with suppliers to drive better prices, which will make it more competitive.
Walgreens sought a takeover of Rite Aid in October 2015. Then the deal was downsized in June to include Walgreens buying 2,186 stores and three distribution centers in a deal worth $5.2 billion.
The final deal announced Tuesday marks yet another revision.
“This is a significant moment for our company, and we are excited about the opportunities this agreement will deliver for our customers and patients, employees and investors,” Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Stefano Pessina said in a statement.
Walgreens said it would slowly convert the acquired stores into its own brand. The locations are primarily in the Northeast and South.
The company expects to save about $300 million annually through cost cuts, procurement savings “and other operational matters” within four years.