Walgreens Boots Alliance Reaches Early Settlement For Prepaid Share Forward Transactions

(RTTNews) - Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) said that it has reached an agreement to settle early on certain prepaid variable share forward transactions previously arranged with multiple financial institutions, concerning shares of Cencora, Inc. (COR). As part of these agreements, the company had initially received approximately $1.1 billion in cash payments when the transactions were first made. The transactions were originally set to mature in March and June of 2026.

As part of the early settlement of the transactions prior to their scheduled maturities, Walgreens Boots Alliance will deliver to the financial institutions an aggregate of approximately 6.1 million shares of Cencora, while paying a net aggregate cash payment of approximately $20 million. The transaction fulfills the Company's obligations to deliver shares at a future date to each financial institution participating in the early settlement.

Walgreens Boots Alliance today announced that it has sold shares of Cencora common stock in an unregistered block trade for proceeds of approximately $265 million, and has sold additional shares in a share repurchase by Cencora for additional proceeds of approximately $50 million.

Walgreens Boots Alliance stated that it will primarily use the proceeds for debt reduction and general corporate purposes. Along with these proceeds and other measures, such as the recent suspension of its dividend, the company aims to better position itself to manage upcoming debt maturities in fiscal 2026.

Walgreens Boots Alliance's ownership of Cencora's common stock has decreased from approximately 10 percent to approximately six percent.