Walgreens further reduces stake in Cencora

(Reuters) -Walgreens Boots Alliance said on Thursday it has sold shares in drug distributor Cencora for proceeds of about $1.1 billion.

Walgreens' ownership of Cencora has now decreased from about 12% to about 10%, it said.

Walgreens has sold shares worth $818 million and Cencora has agreed to repurchase shares worth $250 million, the companies said.

Proceeds from the share sale will be used primarily for debt pay down and general corporate purposes, as Walgreens continues to build out a more capital-efficient health services strategy rooted in its retail pharmacy footprint.

For the past year, the pharmacy chain has been gradually reducing its stake in the drug distributor.

In May, Walgreens sold $400 million worth of shares, lowering its stake to about 12% from about 13%.

The pharmacy chain reiterated that the sale has no impact to the long-term partnership between the two companies.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona)