McKesson Acquires Rexall Health In $2.2 Billion Deal

McKesson Corp. , a healthcare services and information technology company, has agreed to acquire Rexall Health from Katz Group, a privately-held Canadian company, for $2.2 billion. McKesson will get about 470 retail pharmacies in the deal, with Rexall Health strengthening McKesson's business in the Ontario and Western Canadian regions, according to a Wednesday release. The deal, which is expected to close in late 2016, will be "modestly accretive" to adjusted earnings in fiscal 2017, and drive "meaningful accretion" to adjusted earnings in fiscal 2018 on a constant currency basis. Going forward, Katz Group will focus on its three other lines of business: real estate, sports and entertainment and public and private investments, said the company's founder Daryl Katz in a statement. McKesson shares are up 0.1% in premarket trading, but down 31.4% for the past year. The S&P 500 is down 6.6% for the past 12 months.