Walgreens-Rite Aid Merger Hits Snag

DEERFIELD, IL - Walgreens has significantly dropped the price it's offering for rival Rite Aid and extended the closing date of its takeover as the merger faces federal scrutiny over monopoly concerns. The new bid price has dropped to between $6.50 and $7 per share, down from $9 per share when the deal was initially announced, the Deerfield-based drugstore chain said Monday.

Walgreens says it's also planning on selling off more Rite Aid locations than it previously planned. Up to 1,200 stores and "certain additional related assets," will be unloaded "if required to obtain regulatory approval."

Even with those sales, a combined Walgreens-Rite Aid would operate more than 11,000 stores, several thousand more than its closest competitor CVS, according to the AP. The final share price will depend on how many of those stores remain, Walgreens announced.

The deadline to wrap up the merger had passed last week, but the deal has been given an extension until the end of July. Rite Aid stock dropped sharply after the announcement, losing more than 16 percent.