Longs Rejects Walgreen Co. Offer

Walnut Creek, Calif. Longs Drug Stores Corp. on Wednesday said it will not enter into discussions with Walgreen Co. about its $2.8 billion bid for the drugstore operator.

Walgreen made a $75-per-share offer for Longs on Friday, hoping to unseat CVS Caremark Corp.'s previous bid of $71.50 per share, worth about $2.7 billion.

CVS reaffirmed its offer on Sunday and extended the deadline to Oct. 15.

In a letter to Walgreen, Longs said Walgreen has "not presented a clear roadmap to completion," given the regulatory risks of the deal and noted that the bid is nonbinding and not financed.

Longs said its board continues to recommend the CVS offer to stockholders.

"We're disappointed with the refusal of the Longs board to discuss our superior proposal," Walgreen representative Michael Polzin told the Associated Press. "Longs stockholders and the marketplace as a whole have demonstrated strong support for a transparent-end fair process that more fully values the company. We remain committed to pursuing our proposal which we believe creates superior value for our respective stockholders."