Longs Responds to Walgreens’ Latest Maneuver

Walnut Creek, Calif. Following a letter issued by Walgreens on Monday, in which Jeffrey Rein, chief executive of the Deerfield, Ill.-based drug store chain, assured Longs board members that the Walgreen cash offer of $75 per share would likely face few regulatory hurdles, Longs stood by its previous decision not to negotiate with Walgreens.

Rein reiterated his request for Longs to allow Walgreen to complete a due diligence review of the company’s financials and stated again that the Walgreen proposal would deliver “superior value to Longs stockholders relative to the CVS transaction.”

On Tuesday, Longs issued a response stating that its board of directors determined the latest letter from Walgreen contained “no changes to its unsolicited, non-binding expression of interest.”

The statement from Longs cautioned that Walgreens had given no assurances that its offer would result in a transaction and Longs’ board of directors reiterated its recommendation that stockholders accept the CVS Caremark offer.

As the impasse continues, Walgreens is expected to bypass the Longs board of directors and take its offer direct to Longs shareholders.