Rite Aid Corporation and The Jean Coutu Group (PJC), Inc., In the Matter of

The Commission charged that Rite Aid Corporation’s $3.5 billion acquisition of competitors Brooks and Eckerd Pharmacies from the Canadian drug store operator Jean Coutu Group, Inc. was anticompetitive and required the sale of retail pharmacies located in 23 cities along the East Coast. According to the Commission’s complaint, the merger would have substantially reduced competition in the sale of pharmacy services to customers in those areas, where customers view stores operated by the two companies as their two best options. The consent order requires Rite Aid to divest pharmacies in those cities to buyers preapproved by the Commission. The investigation, which included cooperation from the state attorneys general of Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Maine, was handled by the agency’s Northeast Regional Office.