Walgreens Gets Bigger While Rite Aid, Fred's Pick Up the Pieces

  • Revised deal gives Rite Aid cash to pay debt as sales erode
  • Fred’s had ambitions to get much bigger fast, but must reset

Walgreens Trims Rite Aid Deal to Stores Over Chain

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Pharmacy giant Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. will soon be bigger -- and a pair of smaller rivals could be left with bigger headaches.

Rite Aid Corp., the distant No.3 U.S. pharmacy operator, agreed to a slimmed-down deal to sell 2,186 stores to Walgreens, the No. 2, after an earlier plan to merge the two businesses looked unlikely to pass muster with U.S. regulators.