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McKenzie, Huntingdon, Paris, Milan Affected

Local Fred’s Pharmacies Closing

Posted

Several local Fred’s Pharmacies are closing as part of a purchase agreement between Fred’s Inc. and Walgreens announced in September 2018.
McKenzie’s Fred’s Pharmacy will cease operations January 8 and Huntingdon’s Fred’s Pharmacy will close on January 14. Paris and Milan have already closed their pharmacies. Fred’s in Greenfield and Dresden will continue to have pharmacies.
The purchase agreement calls for Walgreens to acquire pharmacy patient prescription files and related pharmacy inventory of 185 Fred’s stores located across 10 Southeastern States. Under the agreement, Walgreens will pay Fred’s 165 million dollars, subject to adjustment, plus an amount equal to the value of related pharmacy inventory.

“This agreement increases patient access to Walgreens pharmacies in the Southeastern U.S., and allows us to introduce more people to Walgreens trusted pharmacy services in these communities. We look forward to welcoming Fred’s patients and team members who are hired into available Walgreens positions,” said Richard Ashworth, Walgreens President of Operations.
The transaction is part of a previously announced plan by Fred’s to unlock shareholder value by monetizing non-core assets through strategic transactions. Fred’s will continue to operate its retail stores at most of these locations after the pharmacies close. Once the transaction is complete, Fred’s will continue to operate approximately 162 pharmacies across nearly 600 stores. Fred’s pharmacy staff at the closing locations will have an opportunity to apply for any available positions at Walgreens.
“With this agreement, we have taken a major step towards achieving one of our main goals of eliminating our debt balance,” said Joe Anto, Interim CEO and CFO of Fred’s. “We look forward to partering with Walgreens to transition our pharmacy patients in these locations as smoothly as possible.”
The companies expect the file transfers to be completed during the first quarter of 2019. Patients whose prescriptions are being transferred are being notified by letter, and the parties will work together to help ensure a smooth transition. Once patient prescriptions are transferred from Fred’s to Walgreens, patients will have access to Walgreens trusted pharmacy services across a network of approximately 9,800 pharmacies nationwide.

Fred's, Pharmacies, Closing