Rite Aid to be purchased by Acme owner
The owner of Acme, Safety and other grocery chains, Albertsons Cos., is buying Camp Hill-based Rite Aid Corp. despite being saddled with debt.The deal, which values Rite Aid equity at nearly $3 billion, would make Albertsons a public company, using Rite Aid’s New York Stock Exchange listing.
. If the deal is approved by regulators and Rite Aid shareholders, the combined company — a “Food, Health, and Wellness Leader,” Rite Aid says — will operate 4,900 stores, including more than 2,000 stand-alone Rite Aids. Sales would total $83 billion a year, with profits (before interest, taxes, and amortization) of around $3.7 billion, writes Joseph N. DiStefano in the Philadelphia Daily News.
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The move is the latest convulsion rocking the retail pharmacy business, as more drug-using Americans buy their medicines direct, through online suppliers including Amazon.
Chain pharmacies, including Rite Aid, grew by underpricing the independent pharmacies that were once a fixture on neighborhood Main Streets. But the big chains have also struggled to stay profitable, even after adding groceries, toys, and other consumer goods in stores.
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