Pangaea Express - Quebec Metro, Coutu (PJC) Acquisition

The rumour that has been circulating over the past few months, was publicly announced and confirmed the first week of October. Here are the highlight of this transaction.

• The value of the acquisition is $4.5 billion. Each Coutu shareholder will receive $24.50 per share, 75% in cash and the balance in Metro shares
• The transaction must be approved by 66% of the Coutu shareholders during the special assembly that will be hold in November. The transaction will be completed during the first quarter of 2018
• PJC will remain a separate entity of Metro. François-Jean Coutu will continue to manage the PJC group
• Once combined, the number of pharmacies will reach 677, mostly located in Quebec, Ontario and New-Brunswick. The president of Metro, M. Eric La Flèche, has indicated that there is no reason to close any of the pharmacies at this time

Metro is expecting to realize savings worth $75 million over a 3-year period by transferring distribution activity to the new PJC depot in Varennes, which means that the McMahon depots (Montreal and Quebec city) will likely be shut down. It is expected that Metro will cut back 100 jobs over this period.

For more information, please contact Ghislain Gauthier, Director, The Pangaea Group