Express Scripts to buy Medco for $29 billion

Bloomberg News
July 21, 2011, 9:08 a.m.

Express Scripts Inc. agreed to buy Medco Health Solutions Inc. for $29.1 billion to become the largest pharmacy-benefits manager in the U.S.

The $71.36-a-share offer in cash and stock is 28 percent more than Medco's $55.78 closing price Wednesday. Investors in the Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based company will get $28.80 in cash and 0.81 of an Express Scripts share for each Medco share they own at the closing, the companies said in a statement.

Buying Medco gives St. Louis-based Express Scripts the scale to become dominant among companies that manage prescription drug benefits for corporate and government clients. Medco also said Thursday that it lost an $11 billion contract with insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. that accounted for 17 percent of its business. The loss drops Medco to No. 3 in the industry, trailing Express Scripts and CVS CareMark Corp.

"Wow, I didn't see this coming," said Art Henderson, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Nashville, Tenn. "There are unbelievable synergies here, but I am sure this will go through a lengthy" review by U.S. regulators.

The takeover would be the largest in pharmacy services in at least a decade, surpassing the $21.7 billion deal that formed CVS Caremark in 2007.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-m ... 4812.story