Longs rebuffs Walgreen offer
From Times Wire Services
Longs Drug Stores Corp. repeated its refusal to enter buyout talks with Walgreen Co. or to share information with its larger rival.
Longs said Walgreen “has not presented a clear road map to completion” of a deal, and was not willing to assume any risk that the deal could be rejected or delayed by antitrust regulators.
Walgreen has offered to buy Longs for $75 a share, or $2.8 billion. But Longs has accepted CVS Caremark Corp.’s lower bid of $71.50 a share, or $2.7 billion.
Longs’ shares rose $1.58, or 2.1%, to $76.09, indicating that investors believe the company is worth even more than Walgreen has bid for it.
Longs said the CVS bid -- which has already been approved by regulators -- was more likely to be completed.
