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Montreal-based grocer Metro Inc. pledged to sell some assets to reduce its financing needs and retain its credit rating as part of a $4.5-billion purchase of pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group Inc.

Metro (TSX: MRU) will pay $24.50 a share in cash and stock for Jean Coutu (TSX: PJC.A), about a 6.1-per-cent premium to Jean Coutu’s price before the two companies announced last week that they were in advanced talks. The grocer said it has access to $3.4 billion in bank credit lines to finance the purchase.

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The deal links two giants from Quebec and gives Metro an expanded foothold in the drug business, helping it diversify in an industry under increasing threat from Amazon.com Inc.’s food expansion. Jean Coutu’s earnings have been under pressure because of new provincial regulations on generic drugs, though a compromise was recently found with the government.

Metro also has the option to sell its 32.2 million shares in Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., the owner of the Circle K convenience-store chain in the U.S., to help finance the deal, analysts have said. Metro has gained 6.9 per cent this year through Friday’s close.