...+ U.S. pharmacy operator CVS Health Corp. announced that is has reached a definitive agreement to purchase Omnicare Inc. in an all debt-financed transaction valued at about $12.7 billion, including the assumption of about $2.3 billion of Omnicare's existing debt obligations. + We expect that CVS will fund the purchase price initially through a 364-day bridge loan. + Although we expect credit ratios to weaken moderately at CVS Health, we do not believe that there is a material change in overall financial risk, given CVS' demonstrated ability to reduce debt leverage with excess cash flow. + We are affirming our '###+/A-2' ratings on CVS Health and '###+' ratings on its senior unsecured debt. + The outlook is stable and incorporates our expectation for the successful integration of the much smaller Omnicare, while CVS' core retail and pharmacy benefit management businesses maintain stable performance and continued profit growth. Although we expect some deterioration of existing credit measures...
