Rite Aid calls off Albertsons deal

The planned merger between Albertsons and Rite Aid was called off earlier this month due to concerns that the drug store chain's investors wouldn't approve the deal. At issue was the $24 billion price, which many of the stockholders and third party advisory firms felt was insufficient.

The deal was originally announced in February and was approved by both companies' boards. As per the plan, Albertsons would get on the New York Stock Exchange through an acquisition of Rite Aid's publicly traded shares.

Albertsons had sought to go public for several years, in part to address high levels of debt. In addition, Albertsons saw the Rite Aid deal as a way to more than double the number of stores it operated, and benefit from the ongoing convergence of the food and wellness fields.

For Rite Aid, its the third time a deal to sell the company has fallen though. A planned acquisition by Walgreens was trimmed back considerably in 2016 by federal regulators, and so was a plan for Fred's to acquire Rite Aid stores that Walgreen's wouldn't buy.

Fred's to buy 865 stores from Walgreen's and Rite Aid

Walgreen's and Rite Aid announced earlier this week that they have agreed to sell 865 stores to Fred's for $950 million in order to alleviate any antitrust concerns related to their pending merger. Kroger had been rumored as the leading candidate to purchase the stores.

Currently Fred's has 581 stores, most of which are in the Southeast. Although the locations of the 856 stores won't be revealed until the Federal Trade Commission approves the merger between Walgreen's and Rite Aid, the two companies said the stores to be sold would be located in the South, as well as the East and West coasts. If the deal goes through, Fred's would become the third largest drugstore chain in the U.S.