Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has been named the successful bidder at about half of the approximately 120 pharmacies at which bankrupt retailer Shopko auctioned off assets this week.
Agreements have been signed, or are in the process of being signed, that are expected to generate $52 million in pharmacy auction proceeds for Shopko , the company said Saturday.
A Walgreens spokesman said Saturday that his company was pleased with the auction results and, pending the sales' approval by the bankruptcy court, looks forward to welcoming Shopko customers to the chain's pharmacies.
A hearing to approve the sales to the successful bidders is expected to be held Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Omaha, Neb.
An auction for Shopko's pharmacy assets, including prescription inventories, records, customer lists and patient profiles, was held Wednesday in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP , one of the law firms representing the general-merchandise chain since it filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.
About 20 other companies, including Albertsons and CVS, were also named successful bidders for additional pharmacy assets that were auctioned off at remaining locations.
Before filing for chapter 11 protection, Green Bay, Wis. -based Shopko , which is backed by private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners Inc. , had found buyers for pharmacy assets at 82 other locations, generating about $95 million in proceeds. Shopko later put roughly 150 remaining additional pharmacy outlets on the auction block.
Shopko , which sells everything from baby gear to clothes to kitchen appliances, entered bankruptcy operating about 370 stores in more than 20 states. It had said about 70 unprofitable stores were in the process of closing, and the company expects to further reduce its footprint by about 40 stores during the bankruptcy. It said it owed about $440 million to lenders.
Shopko has also filed bid procedures that could result in a new equity investor, a debt-to-equity swap, or other asset sales.
Write to Becky Yerak at becky.yerak@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-26-19 1436ET
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