Grocery Retailer Albertsons To Buy Drugstore Chain Rite Aid

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NEW YORK (AP) - The privately held owner of Safeway, Vons and other grocery brands is plunging deeper into the pharmacy business with a deal to buy Rite Aid, the nation's third-largest drugstore chain.

Albertsons Companies is offering either a share of its stock and $1.83 in cash or slightly more than a share for every 10 shares of Rite Aid. A deal value was not disclosed in a statement released Tuesday by the companies.

Shares of Rite Aid jumped in premarket trading.

Albertsons shareholders will own more than 70 percent of the combined company, which is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

Rite Aid Corp. said earlier this year that it runs around 4,400 stores. Last September, it agreed to sell nearly 2,000 to larger rival Walgreens for $4.38 billion.

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