Walgreens Boots Alliance is selling off the majority of its wholesale pharmacy company, Alliance Healthcare, to AmerisourceBergen in a deal worth approximately $6.5 billion, the two companies have announced. Walgreens will receive $6.275 billion in cash and 2 million shares of AmerisourceBergen common stock.
- The companies are extending their U.S. distribution agreement until 2029, and Alliance Healthcare UK will remain the distribution partner of Boots until 2031. The deal is expected to close by the end of fiscal year 2021 and is subject to the satisfaction of regulatory approvals.
- Alliance Healthcare will grow AmerisourceBergen’s wholesale, distribution, and related solutions capabilities, ultimately expanding the breadth and depth of its global manufacturer services, AmerisourceBergen President and CEO Steven Collis said in the announcement.
- The sale will allow Walgreens to focus on its retail pharmacy and healthcare businesses, which in recent months has included a foray into primary care. The retailer has a deal with VillageMD to open 500 to 700 clinics in Walgreens locations over the next five years.
- Walmart has been working on expanding its care centers and will open an additional 22 facilities by the end of 2021. Walgreens recently announced plans to open 40 new full-service primary care clinics by the end of this summer. Walgreens announced its 2021 first-quarter results.
- It brought in $36.3 billion in sales, an increase of 5.7% year-over-over, and had an operating loss of $440 million due to a $1.5 billion charge from the company’s equity earnings in AmerisourceBergen. The transaction will fuel higher future investments to grow and transform our core retail pharmacy and healthcare businesses and is EPS accretive long-term for Walgreens Boots Alliance.