The proposed merger between Rite Aid and Albertsons faces a key crossroads type moment on Thursday, August 9th, when a pivotal vote will be made by the Rite Aid shareholders. The proposal on the table would give the shareholders of Rite Aid a reported 30% stake in the new company.
The prior piece on this merger focused on the transition of the pharmacy / drug store channel and the healthcare landscape. This landscape has adjusted further with the entry of Amazon into healthcare with their acquisition of Pillpack and their partnership with Xealth.
A report in Forbes describes a scenario where the Albertsons merger could be done just strictly out of fear of the impact of Amazon’s entry into the marketplace. The merger proposal is for $24 billion to bring the two companies together to compete against CVS (who is in the process of combining with Aetna), Walgreens (a giant company with Alliance Boots growing their presence in Europe), and Amazon.
A report by Bloomberg states that Rite Aid is set to announce a 2019 net loss of $125 million to $170 million, which far exceeds the numbers in the original guidance that they had reported earlier in the year. The speculation is that the people behind the scenes at Albertsons leaked this information ahead of the crucial vote on Thursday. The thought process being that the fear of the loss of value in Rite Aid will force the hand of their shareholders to vote in favor of the merger.
The Amazon partnership with Xealth provides them access into healthcare networks. The pharmacy side of Albertsons and Rite Aid also have clinics that they operate, which if the merger was approved would create a network of 319 clinics nationwide.
The detractors to the Rite Aid merger feel that the company could compete well on its own in the new landscape. The sentiment from some of the shareholders remains that the proposal from Albertsons does not place the proper valuation on the Envision Rx piece of the Rite Aid business model.
Envision Rx is the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) piece of Rite Aid which has always been a sticking point in this proposed merger. This is a unique attribute of Rite Aid, which many maintain is an undervalued asset of the current proposal. This all comes at a time where two major investment consultant type groups have issued reports that caution the Rite Aid shareholders to consider rejecting the merger proposal.
There is a disconnection between factions of the Rite Aid shareholders over the Albertsons deal. The one side of the scenario is that Rite Aid is a much smaller company now that they have transferred so many store locations to Walgreens. The management of Rite Aid is stating that they feel that they are better positioned now because they will no longer be tied up with the sales of the locations to Walgreens and can focus on improving operations. The central message is that they can survive and compete as a smaller, leaner company without merging.
The other side of the scenario is the faction that feels that Rite Aid must “grow or die” with the “bigger fish” of CVS Caremark (Aetna), Walgreens, and Amazon. The merger with Albertsons will provide a combined company with 4,345 pharmacy locations, which will allow for a much more competitive company in the new landscape of the industry in the future.
Furthermore, there is the reality that Rite Aid stock has lost 77% of its value in the last two years. The Albertsons people are circulating a message that essentially is that Rite Aid will have no other interested parties for a potential merger if this falls through.
In truth, that is probably an accurate assessment because the government shutdown the Rite Aid merger proposal with Walgreens, CVS has no interest in acquiring Rite Aid, and there are not really any other suitors out there in the industry.
Another argument is one that is against the merger which in brief, is that Rite Aid and Albertsons are both struggling in low-margin businesses (pharmacy/drug store and grocery channel) and merging them together will not remedy those core issues related to being niche focused in industry channels that have low profitability.
The grocery channel could potentially provide a regional partner for Rite Aid that could be interested in buying their Northeast and Mid-Atlantic based locations such as Royal Ahold (parent company of Giant, Eagle, and Stop & Shop grocery chains). This is pure speculation on a potential future course for Rite Aid because so many within the financial industry believe that the Thursday vote is going to sink the merger with Albertsons.
This potential merger between Albertsons and Rite Aid has been a mess from the beginning. The path forward for both companies if this merger does not materialize is unclear. Albertsons could shift their focus to an acquisition within the grocery channel, a regional sort of consolidation move to grow the company.
Rite Aid could move forward alone and try to “keep swimming” in the industry without a larger merger partner. They could maximize their revenue streams by executing a strategy around their clinics and with marketing Envision Rx.
The harsh reality is that the pharmacy channel is running scared from the entry of Amazon into their market. The potential for Rite Aid to make it on their own while being squeezed by larger competitors could spell the end for the iconic American drug store chain.
The merger vote on Thursday will impact both the grocery and the drug store channels and could drastically alter the course of the strategic growth for two companies in the future. The consumer will be impacted by a lack of choice and a lack of competition in the industry which will force many consumers into a situation where they are facing increased out of pocket costs for pharmaceutical products in the years to come.
(Some background information and statistics courtesy of Forbes, Bloomberg, and Supermarket News)