DID WALGREENS AND RITE AID BENEFIT FROM THEIR 2017 DEAL?
| dc.contributor.author | Khamis M Bilbeisi | |
| dc.contributor.author | C R Narayanaswamy | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-05-08T19:06:31Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-05-08T19:06:31Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT<br>Purpose- After several attempts that extended over two years, in 2017 the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved Walgreens’ proposal to<br>buy nearly half of Rite Aid stores. The two companies were in the same line of business making the merger fall in the category of horizontal<br>mergers. The main benefits of horizontal mergers are cost savings from improved operational efficiency and superior bargaining power with<br>respect to suppliers. Using annual financial statements, we examined the performance of Walgreens and Rite Aid over the four-year period<br>since the acquisition of Rite Aid stores by Walgreens. The examination is useful because the Federal Trade Commission was not in favor of<br>Walgreens’ earlier proposal to merge completely with Rite Aid, but later allowed it to buy almost half of Rite Aid stores. The present study<br>examines whether the revised proposal benefitted both Walgreens and Rite Aid.<br>Methodology- We collected annual financial statement data of the two companies from Mergent database and analyzed the common size<br>statements and the relevant financial ratios.<br>Findings- Analysis of profitability ratios indicate profit margins (gross as well as net) continued to decrease for both companies even after<br>the acquisition. Both companies showed improved operational effeciency as reflected in Inventory turnover and employee productivity, but<br>Walgreens had a superior performance.<br>Conclusion- Only four years have passed since Walgreens acquired Rite Aid stores. Our analysis of the limited data indicates that Walgreen<br>seems to have benefitted more from the deal. Rite Aid, by selling about 46% of its stores to Walgreens in 2017, became a much smaller<br>company. The smaller size did not affect the cost of inventory or financing, but its profitability did not improve. | |
| dc.identifier | http://www.pressacademia.org/publications/jbef-v11-4/ | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12951/150 | |
| dc.title | DID WALGREENS AND RITE AID BENEFIT FROM THEIR 2017 DEAL? | |
| dc.type | Journal Article, Academic Journal | |
| dcterms.bibliographicCitation | Journal of Business, Economics and Finance 11(4), 185-194, (December 31, 2022) |