Walgreens finishes McKesson deal; names Jarrett to board

Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance has finished a deal to combine pharmaceutical wholesale businesses in Germany with McKesson Corp. Walgreens said Monday that it will control 70% of the venture, while McKesson has a 30% interest

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance has finished a deal to combine its pharmaceutical wholesale businesses in Germany with McKesson Corp.

Walgreens said Monday that it will control 70% of the venture, while McKesson has a 30% interest. The companies entered into the deal last December to produce greater economies of scale in the German pharmaceutical wholesale market, Walgreens said in a recently filed Securities and Exchange Commission document.

Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. runs more than 21,000 stores in 11 countries.

The company also announced late last week that it named one of former President Barack Obama’s advisers, Valerie Jarrett, to its board of directors.

Jarrett also serves on the boards of Lyft and Ralph Lauren, among other companies. She was a senior adviser in the White House from 2009 to 2017.

Walgreens said Jarrett is the first African American woman appointed to the board and fourth woman on the current board.