Walgreens announces acquisition of Shields Health for $1.37B

Walgreens Boots Alliance is an American-British-Swiss holding company that owns Walgreens and Boots retail pharmacy chains. It is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, and it recently announced its acquisition of Shields Health Solutions specialty pharmacy.

Walgreens Boots Alliance announced its full acquisition of Shields Health, and this move gave the former another major milestone in its consumer healthcare strategy to steer long-term company growth. It also revealed its new leadership structure for its business in the United States.

In any case, the company already owned some stake in the Quincy, Massachusetts-based health and pharmacy firm, but this time, it is buying the rest of the stake to fully own it. Walgreens said that it would purchase the remaining stake in Shields Health Solutions and will invest $1.37 billion in the deal, as per Reuters.

Last year, it invested $970 million to raise its stake in Shields Health to 71%. At that time, the agreement also includes an option to acquire the remaining equity interests in the future, and it seems that time has already arrived with this new deal.

Specialty pharmacies like Shields Health are designed to bring medications with special storage, handling, and distribution requirements. These types of medicines are often needed by patients with complex health conditions and illnesses such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

It was established in 2012 and has been helping hospitals provide specialty pharmacy services to patients since then. The acquisition comes as Walgreens seeks to shift its focus beyond its drugstore operations.

“Our full acquisition of Shields will complete another major milestone as part of our consumer-centric healthcare strategy to drive sustainable long-term growth, and we are very pleased with our partnership and integration with Shields,” Walgreens Boots Alliance’s chief executive officer, Roz Brewer, said in a press release.

He added, “We can now make further progress on our strategy through Shields’ integrated model, increasing our value to health systems, expanding access to payor partners and supporting improved outcomes and lower costs.”

Meanwhile, Sidley is representing Walgreens in its acquisition of Shields Health Solutions, where it will buy the remaining 30% stake in the company. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.