The cash portion, that is. The announcement comes after CVS shareholders earlier today voted to support the retailer’s takeover of Caremark. The vote wasn’t surprising. But the real test comes tomorrow, when Caremark shareholders get to choose between CVS and Express Scripts.

Here’s an excerpt from the Express Scripts missive:

“Caremark’s closed door has prevented us from learning anything more about the company that would permit Express Scripts to increase its offer absent due diligence. We could not, in good conscience, increase our bid based on unknown, incremental synergies. However, we’re absolutely committed to increasing our offer if we are able to identify more than $500 million in synergies through confirmatory due diligence.

Earlier, CVS ceo Tom Ryan was crowing after the CVS shareholder vote:

“We are extremely pleased our shareholders strongly supported our proposed merger with Caremark today. We look forward to Caremark shareholders approving the transaction tomorrow and getting to work on delivering the significant financial and strategic benefits that only this deal can provide.”

Additional reading:
Express Scripts statement;
MarketWatch;
Bloomberg News;
CVS statement.

[tags]Caremark, CVS, Express Scripts[/tags]