CVS Wins Omnicare Auction

Omnicare Inc. (NYSE: OCR) put itself on the market in April, with bids due in May. At the time, its market value was estimated to be about $8.5 billion. CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS), Express Scripts Holding Co. (NASDAQ: ESRX), McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) were expected to kick the tires. Last week, CVS won the deal with $12.7 billion, including $2.3 billion in debt. Omnicare’s big draw is its specialty pharmaceutical business focused on assisted living and long-term care facilities. The deal follows UnitedHealth Group’s (NYSE: UNH) $12.8 billion acquisition of pharmacy benefits manager Catamaran Corp. (NASDAQ: CTRX) in March and Rite Aid Corporation’s (NYSE: RAD) $2.0 billion deal for EnvisionRx in February.