Partnerships “enable us to quickly align our products, services
and people to the needs of the rapidly changing and integrated omnichannel
marketplace,” says CEO Stefano Pessina.
By Robert Langreth | October 15, 2018 at 09:56 AM
Megamergers are roiling the pharmacy business, but
one of the biggest players is betting on smaller pacts to help
power its growth.
On a conference
call with analysts on Thursday, executives from Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.,
which runs a pharmacy chain rivaled in size only by CVS Health Corp., emphasized a partnership strategy as a
key to driving more customers into its stores.
Partnerships
“enable us to quickly align our products, services and people to the needs of
the rapidly changing and integrated omnichannel marketplace,” Chief Executive
Officer Stefano Pessina said on the call. A collaborative mindset “is vital for
our growth.”
Walgreens said late
Wednesday that it plans to open at least 600 medical testing locations run by
Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings in its drugstores. Earlier this month, it
teamed up with subscription service Birchbox Inc. to test beauty spaces in 11
stores. It also has a pilot project with grocery giant Kroger Co.
The drugstore
operator is clinching such agreements as rivals bulk up. CVS hopes to close in
coming weeks on its acquisition of Aetna Inc., a deal designed to push more of
the insurer’s customers into its drugstores. And Cigna Corp. is swallowing up
pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts Holding Co.
For its fourth
quarter, Walgreens posted growing prescription sales, driven by its recent
acquisition of 1,932 Rite Aid Corp. stores. But same-store U.S. retail sales,
which includes consumer items like shampoo, toilet paper and beauty products,
fell 1.9 percent.
Shares were up 1
percent to $73.04 at 11:06 a.m. in New York.
Pessina, who has
spoken in the past about bringing together pieces of the medical supply chain,
was careful not to rule out a big deal.
“We have never
excluded any M&A activity,” Pessina said toward the end of the call. But
any such deals would have to be “really value-creating for our shareholders.”
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