PharMerica (PMC) to be acquired by KKR (KKR) for $29.25/share

PharMerica (PMC) to be acquired by KKR (KKR) for $29.25/share in cash. (2 Aug 2017)

    

 

Louisville, KY-based PharMerica Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to be acquired for $1.4 billion.

The institutional pharmacy provider is being bought by a new company controlled by KKR & Co. L.P., a New York City-based private-equity firm, with Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. as a minority investor.

The all-cash deal includes the assumption of PharMerica's debt. When the transaction is complete — expected in early 2018 — PharMerica will become a private company.

PharMerica shareholders will receive $29.25 in cash per share of PharMerica common stock, the release states. The stock closed Tuesday at $25.05, so the acquisition prices is a 17 percent premium.

“With the support of KKR and a strategic partner in Walgreens Boots Alliance, PharMerica will have additional resources and expertise to advance and grow the business," PharMerica CEO Gregory Weishar said in the release.

Alex Gourlay, Walgreens Boots Alliance co-chief operating officer, said the merger represented an opportunity for his company to expand into a growing segment of health care.

The PharMerica board of directors unanimously approved the sale. But the deal still requires PharMerica shareholder approval and regulatory approvals.

PharMerica was founded in 2006 through the merger of the institutional pharmacy business of Louisville-based Kindred Healthcare and AmerisourceBergen Corp.