(Reuters) – Walgreens Boots Alliance has sold some AmerisourceBergen Corp’s shares for proceeds of about $1.85 billion, the U.S. drugstore chain said on Thursday, further cutting its ownership in the drug distributor to about 16%.
Walgreens said in a statement it would use the proceeds to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.
The latest share sale includes $250 million that drug distributor AmerisourceBergen will buy back from Walgreens under its share repurchase program, Walgreens added.
The company has been reducing its stake in AmerisourceBergen over time. Walgreens sold some AmerisourceBergen shares for $694 million in May.
After the latest share sell, Walgreens will remain AmerisourceBergen’s largest shareholder.
(Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed)
