Loblaw closes big acquisition

Article Excerpt

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $46 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 412.5 million; Market cap: $19.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) has completed its acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart, which operates 1,253 drugstores across Canada. Loblaw paid $12.4 billion, consisting of $6.6 billion in cash and $5.8 billion in shares. Shoppers shareholders now own 29% of the combined company. In all, the firm will have $43 billion of annual revenue and $3 billion of gross earnings. Combining marketing and distribution should save $100 million in the first year and $300 million annually by the end of the third year. Loblaw is a buy. buy…