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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Inc. has raised its stake in AmerisourceBergen Corp. to nearly 24%.
Late last month, WBA exercised warrants to buy 22,696,912 shares of AmerisourceBergen common stock for about $1.19 billion. The warrants, the second of two tranches, are part of a long-term partnership announced in March 2013 between AmerisourceBergen and then-merger partners Walgreen Co. and Alliance Boots.
WBA exercised the first tranche of warrants this past March, raising its stake in AmerisourceBergen to nearly 15%. Last month the companies agreed to amend the second tranche so WBA could exercise those warrants immediately. Initially, they were exercisable in March 2017.
The move “builds on the strong and collaborative working relationship our companies have built together and further strengthens the long-term strategic relationship we launched in 2013,” WBA executive vice chairman and chief executive officer Stefano Pessina stated. “Since the beginning of the strategic relationship, we have worked together with AmerisourceBergen to improve the customer experience by delivering the right products at the right time to ensure that we are able to provide exceptional patient access and care in our U.S. pharmacy operations.”
WBA now owns 56,854,867 shares of AmerisourceBergen, or 23.9% of its outstanding equity, based on shares outstanding as of July 31 (adjusted for the exercise of the warrants).
