The planned merger between Albertsons and Rite Aid was called off earlier this month due to concerns that the drug store chain’s investors wouldn’t approve the deal. At issue was the $24 billion price, which many of the stockholders and third party advisory firms felt was insufficient.
The deal was originally announced in February and was approved by both companies’ boards. As per the plan, Albertsons would get on the New York Stock Exchange through an acquisition of Rite Aid’s publicly traded shares.
Albertsons had sought to go public for several years, in part to address high levels of debt. In addition, Albertsons saw the Rite Aid deal as a way to more than double the number of stores it operated, and benefit from the ongoing convergence of the food and wellness fields.
For Rite Aid, its the third time a deal to sell the company has fallen though. A planned acquisition by Walgreens was trimmed back considerably in 2016 by federal regulators, and so was a plan for Fred’s to acquire Rite Aid stores that Walgreen’s wouldn’t buy.