MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Sales continued to slide at Fred’s Inc., as the discount and pharmacy retailer reported decreases for its fiscal 2016 fourth quarter and full year and January 2017. Fred’s said Thursday that January sales totaled $148.1 million, down 5.6% from $156.9 million a year earlier. Same-store sales for the month fell 4.8%, compared
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Fred’s Inc. has reaffirmed its $950 million deal to buy 865 Rite Aid stores to be divested for antitrust clearance of Walgreens Boots Alliance’s pending acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. Fred’s said late Monday that “the asset purchase agreement it entered into on Dec. 19, 2016, with Walgreens and Rite Aid remains
DEERFIELD, Ill., CAMP HILL, Pa. — Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. have agreed to extend the end date for their merger deal and lower the offer price. The companies said Monday that the deal end date has been moved to July 31 — after the previous extension expired this past Friday
As the clock winds down on today’s deal end date for the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger, a report of a new potential player has emerged. Citing anonymous sources, the New York Post reported Friday that private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has expressed interest in the 865 Rite Aid stores that Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite
NEW YORK — Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is still negotiating with the Federal Trade Commission to gain antitrust clearance for its $17 billion deal to acquire Rite Aid Corp., WBA executive vice chairman and chief executive officer Stefano Pessina said at the company’s annual shareholders meeting. “The FTC is doing its job. The process is
Trading of Rite Aid shares was briefly halted on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday when the stock price sank following published reports that the Federal Trade Commission is iffy about antitrust concessions for approval of the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger. Rite Aid shares suspended trading after dropping 18% but resumed minutes later, TheStreet.com reported.
DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) edged past Wall Street’s adjusted earnings per share forecast in its fiscal 2017 first quarter despite declined sales and net income. WBA also reported Thursday that it’s still working to finalize its $17 billion deal to acquire Rite Aid Corp. and continues to expect to complete the transaction
NEW YORK — Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) and Rite Aid Corp. have agreed to sell 865 Rite Aid stores and related assets to Fred’s Inc. for $950 million in cash. The deal is subject to approval by the Federal Trade Commission as well as approval and completion of the pending WBA acquisition of Rite
The agreement struck last month for the sale of 865 Rite Aid Corp. drug stores to Fred’s Inc. is a momentous development for those companies, as well as Walgreens Boots Alliance, which after 14 months is still working to finalize the acquisition of Rite Aid. The $950 million all-cash deal will bring Fred’s stores and
Though Fred’s name came up in the buzz surrounding the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger talks with the FTC, the Southeastern retailer’s move to buy 865 Rite Aid stores for $950 million in cash from Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) still was surprising. After all, not even two weeks ago, Fred’s reported poor third-quarter results (including a net
NEW YORK — CVS Health’s integrated pharmacy care model makes it a “partner of choice” in the health care arena, president and chief executive officer Larry Merlo said at the company’s annual Analyst Day event in Manhattan. Merlo and senior CVS Health executives gathered in New York on Thursday to give the investment community an
The “pending transaction” that Fred’s Inc. mentioned in its third-quarter conference call has stirred up some speculation that the Southeastern discount and pharmacy retailer could be sold. Investor website TheStreet.com reported on Monday that Fred’s “may finally be a willing seller.” Industry observers’ first impression after Fred’s Q3 call — in which the company took
Chain drug industry watchers have kept hearing and reading the scuttlebutt about the closing of the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger deal. But a report late Friday afternoon suggested that approval of the $17.2 billion transaction may be imminent. Investor website Seeking Alpha reported that Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is slated to have a package of store
Not much else about the progress of the Walgreens-Rite Aid merger came out in yesterday’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call by Walgreens Boots Alliance. A swirl of media reports in recent months have gone back and forth about the number of store divestitures and whether the Federal Trade Commission will end up signing off on the
