“Clearly, the CVS/Caremark merger is superior to the illusory and highly conditional Express Scripts’ ‘offer’ in every conceivable way,” says an ever-confident Tom Ryan, the drugstore chains’ ceo. “Our merger can be closed quickly, delivers real and concrete shareholder value and is based on a compelling strategic rationale.”

By offering to pay a special $6 cash dividend to Caremark shareholders, the bid is now worth about $26 billion. That’s still slightly less than the $26.7 billion from Express Scripts.

The move isn’t a surprise, given the higher offer from Express, but also the blistering criticism from proxy advisors and shareholder advisors this past week, including Glass Lewis, Egan Jones and ISS.

The question now, though, is what next? [tags]Caremark, CVS, Express Scripts[/tags]