Valuentum Exclusive Analysis for the Discerning Investor

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Jan 9, 2021

Walgreens Sells European-Focused Wholesale Pharmaceutical Distribution Business to AmerisourceBergen
Image Shown: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc is undergoing a major transformation. Part of that strategy involves divesting its European wholesale pharmaceutical distribution business, Alliance Healthcare, to its strategic partner AmerisourceBergen Corporation. Image Source: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc – Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2020 IR Earnings Presentation. On January 6, Walgreens Boots announced it had reached a deal with AmerisourceBergen Corp to sell the "the majority of” its European-focused wholesale pharmaceutical distribution business, Alliance Healthcare, for about $6.5 billion ($6.275 billion in cash along with 2 million shares of ABC). Please note that Walgreens already owns a sizable stake in AmerisourceBergen as the former owned ~28% of the latter’s outstanding shares as of August 31, 2020. The deal is expected to close by the end of AmerisourceBergen’s fiscal 2021 (at the end of September 2021). The transaction should positively benefit both parties. Walgreens gets a nice cash infusion to help upgrade its core operations while AmerisourceBergen gains significant scale and greater exposure to European markets. The existing arrangements between Walgreens and AmerisourceBergen should assist both firms in realizing their targeted synergies, at least in theory, though the healthcare sector is inherently complex. We continue to prefer exposure to the "pharmacy-oriented" space through one of our favorite dividend growth ideas UnitedHealth Group. We also include Johnson & Johnson and the Healthcare Select SPDR ETF in the newsletter portfolios.