Executive Summary

• Albertsons and Rite Aid announced a definitive merger agreement under which privately held Albertsons will merge with publicly traded Rite Aid.
• Rite Aid and Albertsons have a combined value of around $24 billion, including debt, according to the companies. Rite Aid comprises thousands of drugstores and a benefits management company with millions of members and is in the process of selling a chunk of its stores to Walgreens.
• The transaction would create a company with $83 billion in revenue and enable Albertsons to go public after more than a decade of private equity ownership. The merger is expected to close early in the second half of calendar year 2018, subject to shareholder approval and other approvals.