Advisory Research to tender its Longs shares in light of CVS Caremark standing offer

CHICAGO Advisory Research, a top Longs Drug Stores shareholder, announced on Friday that, in light of Walgreens’ withdrawal of its unsolicited bid to acquire Longs and “the turmoil in the markets,” it would tender all of Longs’ stock into the CVS Caremark tender offer.

Advisory Research will tender all of its clients’ holdings of Longs, which represents about 3 million shares or about 9.2 percent of Longs’ outstanding shares.

This latest news from Advisory Research marks a shift in that the group, and some other Longs shareholders, had stated earlier that it would not support the CVS deal, citing a low offer price.

As previously reported by Drug Store News, Walgreens this week withdrew its offer to acquire Longs, citing repeated refusals by Longs’ management to have a discussion and the deterioration of the nation’s economy in recent weeks.

Longs’ management had already approved CVS’ plans to buy for $2.9 billion, including debt, Longs’ 521 retail locations in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona, as well as its PBM services. On Sept. 5, the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act expired, satisfying a condition to the closing of CVS’ offer.