MONTREAL — Grocery retailer Metro has made a formal offer to acquire pharmacy chain Jean Coutu, in an offer worth about $24.50 per share in cash and shares that would make Jean Coutu shareholders owners of an 11% stake in Metro. The deal would see Jean Coutu assume Metro’s pharmacy operations while remaining active as a separate division.
The two companies, which are active in Quebec, Ontario, and in Jean Coutu’s case New Brunswick, have been looking to join forces since Loblaw Companies Ltd. acquired Shoppers Drug Mart (known as Pharmaprix in Quebec) in 2013. Jean Coutu shareholders will make the final decision on the offer at a special meeting in November.
