Rite Aid/Walgreens Merger Could Be In Trouble

(RTTNews) - Shares of Rite Aid (RAD) Wednesday slipped on reports that supermarket chain Kroger (KR) are no longer interested to buy stores that Walgreens and Rite Aid need to divest in order to get regulatory approval for their $17 billion merger.

A report from New York Post suggest that supermarket chain Kroger is no longer interested in acquiring 650 stores as part of that deal. Walgreens and Rite Aid will have to divest those stores in order to gain anti-trust approval for the deal.

Shares of RAD is currently trading at $6.72, down $0.31 or 4.20%, far below Walgreen's $9 per share offer.

Kroger's interest in acquiring those stores have waned because Obama's Federal Trade Commission has Kroger that the 650 stores could not be purchased and closed, with the operations moved inside the grocery stores.

The FTC is trying to preserve the stand-alone stores," a source said. "But Kroger might want to integrate. What happens to Rite Aids it buys that are near Krogers?" NYPost reports citing two sources.

In September, Walgreens said that both parties will be required to divest more than the 500 stores in order to expedite regulatory approval process.

It was in late October 2015 that drugstore chain Walgreens agreed to acquire smaller drugstore chain Rite Aid for a deal worth about $17.2 billion, including debt.