US-based retail company Walgreens Boots Alliance has sold shares of drug distributor AmerisourceBergen common stock for $694m.
The proceeds from the sale will be used for Walgreens’ debt paydown and general corporate purposes.
The drugstore chain said the deal also includes AmerisourceBergen’s repurchase of $50m of Walgreens’ common stock.
This concurrent share repurchase transaction has decreased Walgreens’ ownership of AmerisourceBergen’s common stock by 20%. It remains at nearly 17%.
In addition, the sale will not affect the long-term partnership between the companies.
Walgreens Boots Alliance International chief operating officer Ornella Barra will remain on AmerisourceBergen’s Board of Directors.
According to the retailer, the variable prepaid forward contracts will begin to settle in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025. The transactions were execbasediance on Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933.
The company expects to deliver 4,590,000 shares of AmerisourceBergen common stock at that time.
This will result in additional proceeds of up to $204m based on the stock price at that time.
These deals will give Walgreens liquidity and help maintain its voting and dividend rights in the AmerisourceBergen common stock.
They also enable it to take part in potential stock price appreciation.
Walgreens has nearly 13,000 locations across the US, Europe and Latin America.
In 2022, Walgreens Boots Alliance withdrew plans to divest its British high street pharmacy chain Boots.
