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Financial News

  • Walgreens' December same-store sales up 6.1%

    DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Monday reported December sales of $7.2 billion, an increase of 7.2%. Sales in comparable stores increased by 6.1% in December. Calendar day shifts positively impacted total comparable sales by 170 basis points, while generic drug introductions in the last 12 months negatively impacted total comparable sales by 70 basis points. December 2013 had one additional Tuesday and one fewer Saturday compared with December 2012. 

  • Salix purchase of Santarus completed

    RALEIGH, N.C. — Salix Pharmaceuticals has completed its $2.6 billion acquisition of Santarus, Salix said.

    The drug maker announced that it had completed the $32-per-share acquisition of Santarus, which the companies announced in November. The combination of the companies' product portfolios includes 22 marketed products, such as Xifaxan, Glumetza, Zegerid, Relistor and others.

  • IMS Health files with SEC for initial public offering

    DANBURY, Conn. — IMS Health is looking to go public, the healthcare industry research and analytics company said.

    IMS, based in Danbury, Conn., said it had filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock, adding that it had not yet determined the number of shares to be offered or the price range of the offering.

  • Rite Aid reports increase in sales, comps for December

    CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid reported a 2.9% increase in same-store sales for the month of December, the retail pharmacy chain said Friday.

    For the four-week period that ended Saturday, front-end same-store sales increased by 1%, while pharmacy same-store sales increased by 4.1%, including a 1% negative effect from the introduction of new generic drugs. Meanwhile, a decrease in sales of flu shots and prescription flu drugs resulted in a 2% decrease in same-store script count.

    Total sales were $2.109 billion, an increase of 2.7% over December 2012.

  • Medical marijuana social network closes seed-funding deal

    DENVER — A new mobile app-driven social network devoted to medical marijuana has attracted $150,000 in seed money from an investment group.

    MassRoots announced Thursday that it had closed the seed investment from members of the ArcView Group. The social network, launched in July 2013, has more than 25,000 active users. MassRoots allows users to maintain their privacy and anonymity by not requiring their name, email or phone number to join.

  • Security blogger Brian Krebs may have found a seller of data from Target payment card breach

    NEW YORK — The security blogger who broke the news about a massive breach of payment card data at Target stores may have identified someone who's been selling the data.

    In his Krebs on Security blog, Brian Krebs identified a Ukrainian man as someone allegedly selling the credit and debit card data, though there was no evidence that the man was behind the theft itself.

  • Shire extends expiration date for offer to buy ViroPharma

    DUBLIN — Drug maker Shire is extending the deadline for its offer to buy Exton, Pa.-based ViroPharma for $4.2 billion, Shire said Friday.

    The company said it had extended the expiration date of its tender offer for ViroPharma until Jan. 9. The offer had previously been planned to expire on Thursday. Shire announced the $50-per-share offer last month.

  • Coty partners with Chalhoub Group, Jashanmal to expand UAE presence

    NEW YORK — Cosmetics maker Coty has entered a new joint venture that it said would expand its footprint in the United Arab Emirates.

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