US Pharmacy Groups Seek Temporary Restraining Order Vs Deal
31 3월 2012 - 7:20AM
Dow Jones News
Pharmacy groups seeking to stop Express Scripts Inc. (ESRX) from
buying rival pharmacy-benefit manager Medco Health Solutions Inc.
(MHS) have asked a federal court to issue a temporary restraining
order to block the transaction.
The temporary order should either stop Express Scripts from
completing the deal, or order the company "to hold separate Medco's
assets and operations" until the court can make a final judgment on
the matter, the pharmacy groups said in a court filing late Friday.
The request is connected to a lawsuit the groups filed Thursday in
an attempt to stop the deal, which could close next week.
Express Scripts declined comment on the restraining-order
request. In July, the company disclosed plans to buy Medco in a
cash-and-stock deal valued at about $29 billion.
The companies are awaiting clearance from the Federal Trade
Commission following a lengthy antitrust review. The FTC and U.S.
Department of Justice are the entities that typically go to court
when they believe a proposed merger is anticompetitive;
private-party lawsuits to stop deals face a high hurdle.
A temporary-restraining order could delay the deal while giving
the court some breathing room to consider the just-filed lawsuit.
But "odds for the grant of a TRO in this situation are long," said
Stephen Axinn, a senior partner and antitrust expert with the law
firm Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP.
Pharmacy-benefit managers, or PBMs, handle drug benefits for
health plans and corporate clients. The National Association of
Chain Drug Stores and National Community Pharmacists Association
have argued that Express Scripts and Medco would, as a combined
company, gain clout to boost costs through higher fees and drug
prices.
The companies have taken the opposite position, saying a bigger
PBM can produce more cost savings for customers. The companies said
this week that their deal may close as early as next week,
indicating antitrust approval from the FTC is close at hand.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Pennsylvania. The pharmacy trade groups were joined in
the suit by nine community pharmacy companies that have a presence
in that state.
Express Scripts shares rose 1.9% to close at $54.18 Friday while
shares of Medco climbed 0.2% to $70.30. The purchase price for
Medco shareholders is 3.4% above the company's closing price.
-By Jon Kamp, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728;
jon.kamp@dowjones.com
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