Financial News

TORONTO — Canadian pharmacy retailer Shoppers Drug Mart announced on Thursday a boost in first-quarter sales and earnings, driven, in part, by gains at the front end.

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Recent events, which have driven Wall Street analysts to speculate that Safeway is a buyout target, are not interrelated, Safeway chairman and CEO Steve Burd assured analysts Thursday morning during the grocer's first-quarter conference call.

NEW YORK — GlaxoSmithKline said its offer to buy Human Genome Sciences was "full and fair" Wednesday after HGS turned it down last week, according to published reports.

Reuters reported that GSK's $13-per-share, $2.6 billion offer for HGS would give the former full control of Benlysta (belimumab), the first new drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for lupus in more than half a century. The two companies developed the drug together under a partnership, and the drug received approval in March 2011.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Biotech drug maker Amgen is buying a pharmaceutical company based in Turkey, the companies said Wednesday.

Amgen said it would acquire 95.6% of Istanbul-based Mustafa Nevzat for $700 million in an all-cash deal, saying the purchase would allow it to expand in Turkey and the surrounding region. The company, also known as MN, is a major supplier of injectable drugs in Turkey and, increasingly, an exporter of medicines.

NEW YORK — Watson Pharmaceuticals is buying Actavis Group for $5.9 billion, according to published reports.

SAN DIEGO — Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca will buy a San Diego-based biotech company for $1.26 billion, the two said Monday.

NEW YORK — Pfizer is selling its nutrition business to Nestlé for $11.85 billion, Pfizer said Monday.

Pfizer Nutrition, which had sales of about $2.1 billion in 2011, manufactures and markets nutrition products for children, including baby and toddler formulas, follow-on formulas and maternal and adult nutrition products.

LONGUEUIL, Quebec -- The Jean Coutu Group has sold 56 million of its approximately 234.4 million shares in Rite Aid, the company said Friday.

The Canadian retailing group said the $83.6 million, $1.51-per-share sale, which amounts to a nearly 24% reduction in the number of Rite Aid shares the company owns, would reduce its stake in Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid to 19.85%. The Jean Coutu group still owns about 178.4 million shares in the 4,667-store chain.