CVS plans to close Longs deal by end of October

CHICAGO (Reuters) - CVS Caremark Corp (CVS.N) said on Monday it can proceed with its purchase of Longs Drug Stores Corp LDG.N after enough Longs shares were tendered and that it expects to close the deal by the end of October.

Longs will boost CVS's presence on the U.S. West coast and give it a foothold in Hawaii, where Longs is the leading chain.

Longs Drug Stores Corp LDG.N agreed to be bought by CVS Caremark Corp (CVS.N) for $71.50 per share in August. A month later Walgreen Co (WAG.N) swooped in with a bid of $75 per share, then walked away from its offer on October 8 after Longs refused to enter negotiations.

Under the terms of the $2.5 billion CVS deal, at least two-thirds of the outstanding Longs shares had to be tendered. CVS had to extend its tender offer for a couple of days in order to pass that threshold.

As of 6 p.m. U.S. Eastern time on October 17, when the tender offer expired, 76.51 percent of shares had been tendered, CVS said. Nearly 27.8 million shares were tendered, including about 3.1 million shares guaranteed to be delivered, CVS said.

When the offer was first set to expire, on October 15, about 65.88 percent of shares were tendered.

CVS said it is starting a subsequent offer to purchase all remaining shares of Longs so that shareholders who have not yet tendered their shares may do so. That offer will expire at 6:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern time on October 28.

Longs, the No. 4 player in the U.S. drugstore industry, operates about 520 stores located in California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii. The Walnut Creek, California-based drugstore chain also provides pharmacy benefit management services through its RxAmerica LLC subsidiary.

Shares of Longs closed at $71.46 on Friday. Before CVS announced its offer on August 12, Longs traded at $54.04.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl; Editing by Derek Caney)