KKR and WBA close PharMerica deal

Investment firm KKR and minority investor Walgreens Boots Alliance, based in Deerfield, Ill., on Thursday closed its acquisition of PharMerica, a provider of specialty pharmacy services.



The deal, first announced in August, was closed ahead of schedule. The all-cash transaction is valued at roughly $1.4 billion and will make PharMerica a private company. In connection with the completion of the acquisition, shares of PharMerica’s common stock will cease trading on the NYSE prior to the opening of the NYSE on Dec. 8, 2017.



“This is an opportunity to expand into a growing segment, and to do so through a national footprint,” Walgreens Boots Alliance co-COO Alex Gourlay reported in August. “As the healthcare landscape and patients’ needs continue to change, this is another way we can support quality, affordable patient care.”



PharMerica serves the long-term care, hospital pharmacy management services, specialty home infusion and oncology pharmacy markets through 96 institutional pharmacies, 20 specialty home infusion pharmacies and five specialty oncology pharmacies in 45 states.



UBS Investment Bank and BofA Merrill Lynch served as financial advisors to PharMerica and Davis Polk & Wardwell served as PharMerica’s legal advisor. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Weil, Gotshal & Manges served as legal advisors to KKR and Walgreens Boots Alliance, respectively.