Independent pharmacy benefit management firm Express Scripts Inc. will transfer
the e-commerce assets of its yourPharmacy.com subsidiary to PlanetRx.com Inc. in a deal valued at $55
million over five years.
The agreement will give Express Scripts a 19.9 percent ownership share in
PlanetRx.com, which will serve as the exclusive Internet pharmacy for Express
Scripts’ 36 million members.
The deal will occur simultaneously with an initial public offering planned by
PlanetRx.com.
PlanetRx.com will pay Express Scripts certain fees in excess of $11 million
annually and will provide additional financial support for the development of
Express Scripts’ other Internet capabilities for five years, with a potential
five-year extension.
Express Scripts will be PlanetRx.com’s preferred partner for pharmacy benefit
management services and will receive one seat on the PlanetRx.com board of
directors.
“PlanetRx.com’s excellent brand awareness, technology and distribution
infrastructure allow Express Scripts to accelerate our Internet pharmacy
initiative,” said Barrett Toan, president and chief executive officer of
Express Scripts.
“This relationship enables us to focus on delivering
excellent pharmacy benefit services and health information to our clients and
their members.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Express Scripts will promote PlanetRx.com
as Express Scripts’ exclusive Internet pharmacy to fill prescriptions and
market other health and wellness products to Express Scripts’ plan members.
Express Scripts, which will retain ownership of the domain name
yourPharmacy.com, will link PlanetRx.com to yourPharmacy.com and actively
promote PlanetRx.com.
“We’re uniting the benefits of PlanetRx.com’s strong commerce capabilities
and Express Scripts’ strong content expertise” said William Razzouk,
chairman and chief executive officer of PlanetRx.com.