McKesson buys a chunk of Katz's pharma assets

McKesson Corp. says it will buy the independent and banner franchise pharmacy businesses from Katz Group Canada for $920 million.

McKesson will acquire virtually all of the assets of Drug Trading, the shares of Medicine Shoppe Canada and a joint stake in the ProPharm pharmacy software application.

“We will intensify our focus on our corporately owned Rexall and Rexall/Pharma Plus store network to accelerate the growth of our Rexall brand and the value proposition that it represents to our patients and customers," Katz Group chair Daryl Katz said in a statement.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year.