Fred’s closes specialty pharmacy sale
Fred’s has completed the sale of its specialty pharmacy business. The Memphis, Tenn.-based company unloaded the business unit, EntrustRx, to a CVS Health subsidiary for a $40 million aggregate consideration, plus the value of its inventory.
“We are pleased to conclude the sale of EntrustRx, an important step in our plans to monetize non-core assets as part of our broader turnaround efforts.,” Fred’s interim CEO Joe Anto said of the deal. “The cash proceeds will allow us to pay down a significant portion of our debt and also be used for general corporate purposes.”
The EntrustRx sale, first announced in April, was part of the company’s efforts to reduce its debt load as it looks to turn the company around, alongside selling parts of its real estate portfolio and reducing expenses, among other efforts.It also has said it was exploring options for its retail pharmacy business. For the full-year 2017, Fred’s reported a $139.3 million net loss and its debt load increased as part of its plan to acquire divested stores from Rite Aid as part of the initial scrapped Walgreens attempt to purchase the Camp Hill, Pa.-based company.
Fred’s is set to report its first-quarter results on June 14.
“We are pleased to conclude the sale of EntrustRx, an important step in our plans to monetize non-core assets as part of our broader turnaround efforts.,” Fred’s interim CEO Joe Anto said of the deal. “The cash proceeds will allow us to pay down a significant portion of our debt and also be used for general corporate purposes.”
The EntrustRx sale, first announced in April, was part of the company’s efforts to reduce its debt load as it looks to turn the company around, alongside selling parts of its real estate portfolio and reducing expenses, among other efforts.It also has said it was exploring options for its retail pharmacy business. For the full-year 2017, Fred’s reported a $139.3 million net loss and its debt load increased as part of its plan to acquire divested stores from Rite Aid as part of the initial scrapped Walgreens attempt to purchase the Camp Hill, Pa.-based company.
Fred’s is set to report its first-quarter results on June 14.