Financial News

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The Paws Pet Co. is buying an Irvine, Calif.-based compounding pharmacy as it seeks to transition from a pet company into a pharmaceutical company, Paws said.

BURLINGTON, Mass. — A division of inVentiv Health has acquired Catalina Marketing's medication adherence services subsidiary, inVentiv said Thursday.

The acquisition of Catalina Health by Adheris makes Adheris the largest provider in the nation of tailored, direct-to-patient medication adherence programs, inVentiv said. Catalina Health president Renee Selman will lead the combined company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

NEW YORK — Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's "Mad Money," is still bullish on Rite Aid.

In a segment of "Mad Money Lightning Round" Monday evening, Cramer said of Rite Aid's stock, "I want you to stick with it. They're making a big comeback."

Indeed, the Camp Hill, Pa.-based retail pharmacy chain's stock has been shooting up lately, trading at about $5.26 per share at midday Wednesday after opening at $5.20.

GURGAON, India — Ranbaxy Labs had global sales of $447.6 million in third quarter 2013, compared with $434.6 million in third quarter 2012, the Indian drug maker said Tuesday.

Sales from generics were $208.4 million, while branded and OTC drugs had sales of $239.3 million North American sales were $143.24 million including $128.6 million in the United States, lower than in Q3 2012 due to a large contribution last year from new generic drugs.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — A selloff of several store leases and the spinoff of two business segments are on the way for Sears Holdings as the company hopes to improve its third quarter 2013 performance, the retailer said Tuesday.

The company, which owns the Kmart mass-merchandise and Sears department store chains, said it would sell five store leases in Canada to Cadillac Fairview for about $383.5 million. That deal is expected to close in the next 10 business days.

DUBLIN — Actavis had sales of $2.01 billion in third quarter 2013, a 57% increase over the same period last year, the drug maker said Tuesday.

Profits for the quarter were $65.5 million, down from $76.7 million in third quarter 2012. The quarter's results exclude figures from Ireland-based Warner Chilcott, which Actavis acquired at the beginning of the month.

NEW YORK — Procter & Gamble may be able to sell its Iams pet food unit to Del Monte Foods Co., according to published reports.

Bloomberg reported that P&G CEO A.G. Lafley was under pressure to improve the company's business and that shareholder HighMark Capital Management said it could increase its share price by selling some assets, including Iams. Del Monte, HighMark said, would be a "logical" buyer for Iams, valued at around $2.5 billion, because it's looking to grow its pet food business.

SAN FRANCISCO — McKesson on Thursday reported $33 billion in revenues for the second quarter ended Sept. 30, up 11% compared to the year-ago period. Second-quarter adjusted earnings per diluted share was $2.27, up 19%.