The news caused API shares to fall 12.7% AU $ 1.51 in early forex, with the Wesfarmers offer of AU $ 1.55 per share being 20 cents per share lower than Woolworths’ offer.
The transaction will mark Wesfarmers’ first foray into the pharmacy industry, giving it access to API’s network of retail stores, skin care clinics, and a pharmaceutical and healthcare distribution network.
Woolworths, in a separate statement, said he had “not been able to validate the financial returns he needs under the group’s capital allocation framework” to follow through on his proposal.
Wesfarmers, which already owns 19.3% of API, said last month it would not back Woolworths’ bid for the drugstore chain. In early November, Sigma Healthcare also waived an A $ 773 million takeover bid for API.
According to API, the deal with Wesfarmers is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. ($ 1 = AU $ 1.3963) (Reporting by Harish Sridharan and Upasana Singh Bengaluru; editing by Devika Syamnath and Richard Pullin)