
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 30, 1995                   TAG: 9511300076
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RITE AID BUYING REVCO

Rite Aid Corp. is expected to announce today that it is acquiring Revco D.S. Inc. in a cash and stock deal valued at $1.8 billion.

The acquisition, which has been approved by the boards of both companies, would cement Rite Aid's position as the largest drugstore chain in the country, creating a company with $11 billion in revenues and more than 4,500 stores.

``The managed-care industry is driving our business, and we want to be in a position to offer them the most convenient low-cost service they can find,'' Martin Grass, chairman and chief executive of Rite Aid, said Wednesday night. ``The expanded capacity this merger will give us will make us the best-positioned retail drugstore chain in the country to meet the challenges that changes in the medical industry are bringing.''

Grass said the combined companies would be able to take advantage of Rite Aid's advanced computer system and extend Revco's mail-order drug business.

Zell/Chilmark Fund L.P., the investment fund that bought Revco out of bankruptcy protection in 1992 and still owns 19.7 percent of its shares, will receive about $363.8 million, a 45 percent return on its investment.

Shares of Revco gained 50 cents, to $25.50, Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. Rite Aid closed at $28.625, up 12.5 cents.

by CNB