, Columnist
A Takeover Frenzy Leads to a Frenzy of Buyer’s Remorse
CVS, Coty, Campbell Soup and Verizon are the first wave of M&A misgivings.
What goes up so high must be written down.
Photographers: Justin Sullivan (CVS and Campbell)/Getty Images; Jin Lee (Coty), Patrick T. Fallon (Verizon)/Bloomberg
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It was only a matter of time before investors saw the aftereffects of the overheated deal environment.
Shares of CVS Health Corp. plunged about 8 percent Wednesday morning after the health-care company announced another writedown of the Omnicare business that it acquired in 2015. The $2.2 billion noncash impairment charge for the latest period follows a $3.9 billion writedown from the second quarter of last year, irrefutable evidence that CVS massively overpaid for the $12.9 billion transaction.