Express Scripts to pay $4.7B for WellPoint units
Deal will add 25 million members to pharmacy benefits management business.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Express Scripts has agreed to buy WellPoint's pharmacy benefits management business for $4.68 billion, the companies said Monday.
Express Scripts, one of the largest pharmacy benefits managers in the U.S., will gain an additional 25 million members through the acquisition of WellPoint's NextRx units, which manage more than 265 million adjusted prescriptions each year.
After the acquisition, Express Scripts says it will manage 750 million adjusted prescriptions a year.
The deal also includes a 10-year contract for Express Scripts (ESRX, Fortune 500) to provide services to WellPoint (WLP, Fortune 500).
"This alliance will create an organization with greater resources and capabilities, which will provide members with more cost-effective solutions as well as access to state-of-the-art PBM services," WellPoint chief executive Angela Braly said in a statement.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2009.
President Obama has made health care reform one of the priorities of his new administration.
"Now more than ever, as the nation focuses on health care reform, this collaboration between Express Scripts and WellPoint represents a shared commitment to achieving optimal health outcomes while driving out wasteful spending," said George Paz, chairman and CEO of Express Scripts, in a written statement.
Paz said the company would focus on generic brand prescriptions, home delivery of medications, and specialty pharmacy.
Express Scripts headquarters is in St. Louis. 
