NEW YORK — Walgreen Co. announced it will exchange most of its long-term-care pharmacy business for substantially all of Omnicare’s home-infusion operations.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
The swap comes as Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, determined it couldn’t be a leader in the field of distributing medicine to senior living and hospice facilities “without significant additional investment.”
Walgreens had launched a joint venture with Senior Healthcare Partners LLC, known as SeniorMed, in 2005, and bought the company outright in 2007. Walgreens doesn’t break out the unit’s results.
Meanwhile, Omnicare Inc. has sought to build its drug-distribution business and shed ancillary operations in the face of sharply lower second-quarter earnings and a raft of management changes, including the abrupt retirement of its chief executive in August.
The infusion business, which provides at-home intravenous medications such as antibiotics and chemotherapy, will help Walgreens expand its lead as the nation’s largest provider of home infusion services.
Omnicare earlier this week bought institutional pharmacy provider Continuing Care Rx, which serves more than 40,000 beds at long-term-care facilities.
Separately, Walgreens posted higher same-store sales as its retail remodel begins to pay off.
The company has been seeking ways to fuel front-end sales that had softened during the downturn and has been installing lower shelves and more focused inventory.
