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CVS to buy LTC pharmacy chain Omnicare for $12.7B

CVS Health is expanding again, agreeing to pay $12.7 billion to acquire Omnicare, a Cincinnati-based pharmacy chain serving long-term care facilities.

CVS Health is expanding again, agreeing to pay $12.7 billion to acquire Omnicare, a Cincinnati-based pharmacy chain serving long-term care facilities.

The deal, announced Thursday, involves CVS paying $98 per share in cash, plus assuming $2.3 billion in debt. It will give the pharmacy giant an additional 160 locations in 47 states, representing a big boost for CVS in the lucrative market of eldercare.

In fact, CVS, headquartered in Woonsocket, R.I., said that it expects the acquisition to add 20 cents per share to its earnings in 2016, excluding any one-time costs associated with the integration of Omnicare’s operations.

“The acquisition of Omnicare significantly expands our business, providing CVS Health access into a new pharmacy dispensing channel,” said CVS Health President and CEO Larry Merlo said in a company statement. “It also creates new opportunities for us to extend our high-quality, innovative pharmacy programs to a broader population of seniors and chronic care patients as they transition across the care continuum.”

Omnicare has a number of subsidiaries that provide pharmacy management services and technology. The technology unit makes e-prescribing software and electronic medication management modules for EHRs. Its Omnicare Specialty Care Group serves, among other things, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

CVS expects the purchase to close before the end of the year.

Photo: FreeDigitalPhotos user amenic181

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