Walgreens Boots Alliance plans to be a buyer in consolidating market

DEERFIELD, Ill. - While Walgreens Boots Alliance may or may not tip its acquisition hand next week in New York at the company's analyst meeting, one thing is for sure - Walgreens Boots Alliance is buying. Follow @DSN_MikeJohnsen  on April 15 using hashtag #WBAfuture for up-to-the-minute live tweets of the all-day event. 

 

Here's what Stefano Pessina, Walgreens executive vice chairman and acting CEO, told analysts today: "I am convinced that the formation of Walgreens Boots Alliance is a unique first which will almost inevitably lead to many other new firsts in our industry," he said. "It may not yet be clear which steps these will be, but we are determined to continue to show the way and be at the forefront of innovating healthcare. ... 

 

"[T]his market, the American market, is ready for another round of consolidation. Because the margins are squeezed everywhere; the government is more and more in charge of the costs of the healthcare business and ... they will exercise their power to squeeze the cost as much as possible, as we have seen in Europe for decades," Pessina added.

 

"But as I have said before, we want to be, as we have been in the past, at the forefront of changes," Pessina said.