Deerfield-based Walgreen will pay shareholders of drugstore.com $3.80 a share, a premium of 113 percent over the online company's closing price Wednesday, according to a release.
In the deal, Walgreen is acquiring the drugstore.com site and the company's other websites, such as Beauty.com and SkinStore.com.
Drugstore.com had more than $456 million in sales last year, according to the release, which said the company's corporate office will stay in suburban Seattle. The company has a total of about 1,000 employees at offices, a call center and distribution centers.
"Drugstore.com significantly accelerates our multi-channel initiatives by expanding our product selection for our customers, adding new capabilities through their well-known beauty and skin care websites," Walgreens President of E-commerce Sona Chawla said in the release.
The deal will lower Walgreen's earnings per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 because of one-time costs, and in fiscal 2012 and 2013 because Walgreen plans to reinvest in drugstore.com, according to the release.
The deal is expected to close by the end of June. Walgreen operates about 7,700 drugstores and had sales of $67 billion in fiscal 2010.
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