Walgreens Boots Alliance is willing to unload up to 1,000 stores in order to win regulatory approval of its $17.2 billion deal to acquire Rite Aid, the company said in a securities filing.
The cap represents about 8 percent of the combined company’s 12,700 U.S. stores.
The proposed merger of two of the three largest drugstore chains requires the approval of the Federal Trade Commission. Two influential U.S. senators have called for an examination of whether the deal would raise drug prices for consumers and reduce choice.
“I have fought tirelessly to promote competition in the health sector and I believe the proposed merger of two of the three largest drug store chains in the country raises serious issues,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, said in a statement this week.
Full content: Bloomberg
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