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Rite Aid merger due ‘any day now,’ report says
Roger DuPuis//January 11, 2017
The paper cited an unnamed source “close to the case” who told a reporter that federal regulators are scrambling to complete their review of the deal before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.
Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance first proposed a $17.2 billion purchase of East Pennsboro Township-based Rite Aid Corp. in the fall of 2015.
The transaction has been awaiting regulatory approval ever since, with apparent complications as Walgreens encountered difficulties finding a buyer for hundreds of stores that it was expected the Federal Trade Commission would require the company to divest in order to protect competition within the industry.
Walgreens last fall said the company “remains actively engaged with the Federal Trade Commission” regarding the Rite Aid deal, “and continues to expect that the most likely outcome will be that the parties will be required to divest between 500 and 1,000 stores.”
Last month, Memphis-based Fred’s Inc. signed an agreement to buy 865 Rite Aid stores for $950 million in cash, though the locations have not yet been disclosed.
The company declined comment on the latest news, a spokesman told the Business Journal Wednesday morning.
The company reiterated its position in a Jan. 5 statement, indicating only that Walgreens Boots Alliance is actively engaged in discussions with the FTC.
