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Bloomberg
Grocer Albertsons Cos. plans to buy drugstore owner Rite Aid Corp. in a deal that would accelerate the remaking of the US retail and health-care industries.
Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons plans to acquire the parts of Rite Aid that are left over after a separate sale of nearly 2,000 stores, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing the companies’ chief executive officers.
The cash-and-stock deal would create a company with annual revenue of $83 billion and is expected to close by summer, subject to regulatory approval.
Rite Aid rose 23 percent before US markets opened on Tuesday.
Albertsons shareholders would own about 71 percent of the combined company, while Rite Aid investors would hold the rest.
The companies have a combined value of around $24 billion, including debt, according to the report.
The deal comes amid a broader reshuffling of the US pharmacy market, with retailers like Walmart Inc. seeking to play a bigger role amid the prospect of online giant Amazon.com Inc. entering the health-supply business.
Rite Aid won approval to sell 1,932 stores, three distribution centers and related assets to Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. for
$4.4 billion in September. CVS Health Corp. agreed last year to pay $68 billion for health insurer Aetna Inc., while the WSJ recently reported that Walgreens is in early talks to buy drug distributor AmerisourceBergen Corp.
Rite Aid CEO John Standley would serve as chief of the new company, the WSJ reported, while his counterpart at Albertsons, Bob Miller, would be the chairman. Standley told the newspaper that the combination would help the drugstore operator expand its food offerings to stand out from CVS and Walgreens, as well as boosting e-commerce sales.
The new company, to be based in both Boise and Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, would operate about 4,900 stores and 4,300 pharmacies across 38 states and Washington, DC, according to the WSJ.