SXC Health to buy Catalyst for about $4.4B

[April 18, 2012]  LISLE (AP) -- SXC Health Solutions plans to buy fellow pharmacy benefits manger Catalyst Health Solutions in a $4.4 billion deal announced less than a month after competitor Express Scripts closed a $29 billion acquisition.

SXC Health says it will pay $28 in cash and a portion of its stock for each share of Catalyst. That equals a purchase price of $81.02 per share, a premium of about 28 percent over Catalyst's latest closing price of $63.54.

The combined company will be headquartered in Lisle, Ill., where SXC is based.

Pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, run prescription drug plans for employers, government agencies and other clients.

Express Scripts completed the purchase of Medco Health Solutions on April 2, making it the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the country by far.

[Associated Press]

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