A big deal: CVS Health Corp. has agreed to acquire nursing-home pharmacy Omnicare Inc. in a deal valued at $12.7 billion, adding services for the elderly to bolster its position as the biggest U.S. retailer of prescription drugs. CVS will pay $98 per share in cash, the companies say in a statement issued this morning. Omnicare, with a market value of about $9.2 billion, hired advisers to explore a sale earlier this year. Omnicare delivers drugs and helps senior-living facilities manage residents’ medications. CVS is the nation’s second-largest pharmacy benefits manager, handling drug plans for health insurers and employers. Bloomberg has the full story.
Under new management: Lumber Liquidators, under scrutiny for months as it faces accusations that it sold products with dangerous levels of formaldehyde, announced this morning that its chief executive has left the company. The New York Times reports that the chief executive and president, Robert M. Lynch, resigned unexpectedly, the company says. Thomas D. Sullivan, company’s founder, will serve as acting chief executive. The company has been reeling since a report in March by CBS’ 60 Minutes stated that some of the company’s laminate wood contained potentially hazardous levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Read the full story.
Falling down: U.S. home resales unexpectedly fell in April as tight inventories pushed prices higher, giving a cautious signal on the strength of the housing market. As Reuters reports, the National Association of Realtors announced this morning that existing home sales dropped 3.3% to an annual rate of 5.04 million units. March’s sales pace was revised up to 5.21 million units from the previously reported 5.19 million units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home resales rising to a 5.24 million-unit pace last month. The relative weakness in home resales puts a dent in what had been one of the brighter spots of the broader U.S. economy after gross domestic product barely grew in the first quarter. Read the full story.
