medcoThe $71.36-a-share offer in cash and stock is 28 percent more than Medco's $55.78 closing price Wednesday. Investors in the Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based company will get $28.80 in cash and 0.81 of an Express Scripts share for each Medco share they own at the closing, the companies said in a statementBuying Medco gives St. Louis-based Express Scripts the scale to become dominant among companies that manage prescription drug benefits for corporate and government clients. Medco also said Thursday that it lost an $11 billion contract with insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. that accounted for 17 percent of its business. The loss drops Medco to No. 3 in the industry, trailing Express Scripts and CVS CareMark Corp.
"Wow, I didn't see this coming," said Art Henderson, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in Nashville, Tenn. "There are unbelievable synergies here, but I am sure this will go through a lengthy" review by U.S. regulators.The takeover would be the largest in pharmacy services in at least a decade, surpassing the $21.7 billion deal that formed CVS Caremark in 2007.
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