Walgreens stock falls toward near 2-year low, to pay $1.4 billion for remaining stake in Shields Health

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shed 0.3% toward a near two-year low in midday trading Tuesday, after the drug store services company said it would spend $1.37 billion to buy the remaining 30% stake in specialty pharmacy company Shields Health Solutions that it didn’t already won. Walgreens expects the latest purchase to close by the end of 2022. The company started investing in Shields Health with a minority stake taken in July 2019, then increased the stake to approximately 70% in 2021. The latest purchase would value Shields Health at about $4.6 billion. “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,” said Walgreens Chief Executive Roz Brewer. The stock, which was headed for the lowest close since October 2020, has plunged 13.4% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained 3.0%.

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