A “Store Closing” sign hangs on a Rite Aid store in Huntington Woods, Mich., on July 31, 2024. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg News)
CVS Health Corp. is trying to buy stores and patient data from Rite Aid Corp., the beleaguered pharmacy chain that is going out of business after filing for bankruptcy a second time earlier this month.
CVS, which already owns the largest chain of retail pharmacies in the U.S., put in a bid for a significant number of stores in Washington, Oregon and Idaho as well as patient prescription information, Rite Aid CEO Matthew Schroeder told employees May 15, according to a recording of the meeting reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The additional stores would broaden CVS’ reach in a part of the country where it has a smaller presence per capita than in other regions.
A CVS spokesperson declined to comment. Rite Aid didn’t immediately provide comment.
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Rite Aid has also received multiple bids on some of its pharmacy assets, such as patient data and inventory, from Walgreens Boots Alliance, Albertsons Cos., Kroger Co., Giant Eagle and others, Schroeder said. The potential buyers are interested in continuing to employ Rite Aid workers, he said.
CVS Health ranks No. 18 on the Transport Topics sector list of the top wholesale/retail carriers. Walgreens ranks No. 5 on that list. Kroger, Walgreens and Albertsons rank Nos. 26, 43 and 42, respectively, on the TT Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America.
“We are not going to emerge from bankruptcy,” Schroeder said to employees. “Once our assets are sold, Rite Aid will no longer exist.”
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Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger, and Giant Eagle did not immediately provide comment.
Bids will be presented to the bankruptcy court May 21, Schroeder said. On June 6, the court will hold a hearing on Rite Aid’s plan for financing while it winds down the company.
The drugstore chain fell victim to falling profits from prescriptions, government fines related to opioid pain medicines and a decline in consumer spending. The challenges have affected all the major retail pharmacies, which have closed more than a thousand stores across the country in recent years. CVS, which had more than 9,000 locations at the end of last year, plans to close about 270 in 2025. Walgreens said it will shutter hundreds of stores this year. Rite Aid closed more than 850 stores during its first bankruptcy proceedings in 2023 and 2024, according to court filings.
CVS said in February it expects a 5% drop in adjusted operating income from the division that houses its retail locations in 2025. It also makes money selling health insurance plans and pharmacy benefit management services.
Pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens have been negotiating with pharmacy benefit managers to get paid more for prescriptions.
