Caremark rejects buyout bid

Caremark Rx rejected a buyout offer by a rival pharmacy benefits manager and pledged to continue to pursue drugstore operator CVS Corp.'s bid to acquire Caremark. Express Scripts responded by launching an effort to reshape the Caremark board of directors in order to salvage its $26 billion stock and cash offer. The CVS deal, valued at $21 billion in stock, has passed antitrust scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission and is expected to go to a shareholder vote and be completed by the end of March. Maryland Heights, Mo.-based Express Scripts contends that its proposal represents a 13% premium for shareholders over what Woonsocket, R.I.-based CVS is offering, but Caremark hasn't been swayed. ''The board has unanimously concluded that pursuing discussions with Express Scripts is not in the best financial or strategic interests of Caremark and its shareholders,'' Nashville-based Caremark said. Express Scripts said a few hours later that it had notified Caremark of its intentions to nominate four candidates to the Caremark board at the company's next shareholder meeting.—Associated Press