CHICAGO - Drugstore chain CVS Caremark Corp. said Tuesday that it’s buying Longs Drug Stores Corp. in a deal valued at $2.7 billion, excluding the assumption of debt.
The $71.50-per-share cash offer was announced after the end of trading and is a 32 percent premium over Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Longs’ closing price of $54.04.
Longs’ shares leaped 30 percent, or $16.21, to $70.25 in after-hours trading.
Including the assumption of the chain’s $200 million in debt, the deal would be valued at about $2.9 billion.
Longs has 521 stores in California, Hawaii, Nevada and Arizona and operates Rx America, a prescription benefits management program with more than 8 million members.
The Valley has two Longs stores: one at 1930 S. Alma School Road in Mesa and one in west Phoenix.
Executives at Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS said the deal will give the nation’s largest provider of prescriptions significant inroads in fast-growing markets as well as the chain’s first locations in Hawaii.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
