Walgreens Expected to Merge

Walgreen Co. (Deerfield, Ill.) shareholders will vote next week on whether to complete a merger with Alliance Boots GmbH (Bern, Switzerland), which runs the U.K. drugstore chain “Boots” and a large drug-distribution business in Europe. The companies came together in 2012 when Walgreens bought a 45 percent stake in Alliance Boots for $6.7 billion in cash and stock. The merger, a $14.7 billion deal, would make Walgreens a global business, and take the company from 8200 stores across the U.S. to more than 11,000 stores in 10 countries.

The merger would also make the combined company the largest purchaser of prescription drugs in the world, strengthening its leverage with drug suppliers and ultimately lowering the cost of retail prescriptions, reports The Wall Street Journal.