Walgreen to Spend $6.7B on Alliance Boots Stake

(Reuters) - Walgreen Co said it would buy a 45 percent stake in Alliance Boots for $

Quick Take Walgreen reports flat revenues at $18.6 billion with net profit up about 11% to $756 million The company also announced a 10-year agreement with pharmacy services provider AmerisourceBergen Sales helped by growth in prescriptions filled mitigating the negative impact of growing generic drug introductions Front end sales take a hit despite the company launching more new format stores Growth in generic prescription drug introductions and the new agreement with AmerisourceBergen will further help the company’s growing margins The return of Express Scripts prescriptions and growth in ge

The largest drugstore chain in the US has agreed to buy a 45% stake in Alliance Boots, Europe’s largest health-and-beauty retailer. In its biggest deal ever, century-old Walgreen will pay about [...]

By Trefis: The return of Express Scripts prescriptions and growth in generic prescription drugs dispensed saw the largest drugstore chain in the U.S. Walgreen (WAG) post a growth in profits in the quarter ending February. Fiscal 2013 second quarter net earnings were $756 million compared with net earnings of $683 million in the year ago quarter. Revenues from the quarter were flat at $18.6 billion.

Already the nation’s largest operator of drugstores, Walgreen is seeking to extend its retail dominance to the online world with its bid for drugstore.com (read here).

By Kraken:Walgreen (WAG) fell more than 6% after it announced it will be buying Alliance Boots, a European health and beauty retailer, for $6.7 billion. The market seems to be disappointed with the deal and I agree with the reasons why.

By Jeremy Johnson:On Monday June 18th Walgreen Co. (WAG) announced a two-stage transaction to purchase Alliance Boots, a retail and wholesale pharmacy group in Europe, paying $6.6 billion for a 45% equity stake in the company, with an option to purchase of the remainder within the next three years.

(Reuters) - Walgreen Co said on Thursday that recently retired McDonald's Corp chief executive James Skinner was named its new non-executive chairman, a move that comes as the largest U.S. drugstore chain plans an international expansion. Skinner, a Walgreen board member since 2005, succeeds Al McNally, who has been non-executive chairman since 2009 and remains on the board. The move came three weeks after Walgreen said it would pay $6.7 billion for a 45 percent stake in European drugstore company Alliance Boots Holdings Ltd in Walgreen's first move beyond its home market. ...