Walgreens: Could sell 1,000 stores for Rite Aid deal if required

• Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA +2.2%) says it would be willing to sell off up to 1,000 stores in order to wrap a buyout of Rite Aid (RAD +0.6%).
• The company had said it had looked at antitrust concerns but hadn't put a number to what divestitures might be required.
• One thousand of the stores would come to 8% of the combined companies' total footprint, though in a presentation filed with the SEC, Walgreens "believes the most likely outcome is divestments of less than half this number."
• Walgreens said it expects the deal to be accretive during the first full year after closing, with synergies in excess of $1B, primarily from procurement, cost savings and operational synergies.
• Previously: Regulatory concerns surround Walgreens, Rite Aid deal (Oct. 29 2015)