GoodRx To Acquire RxSaver In $50 Million Deal

Discount drug broker GoodRx is acquiring its competitor RxSaver, which is owned by marketing firm Vericast, in a $50 million deal, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

Controlled by billionaire investor Ronald Perelman, who also controls Vericast, RxSaver was sold off to GoodRx last month, investors were told on a private call on Thursday (May 13), the sources told Bloomberg.

Vericast’s investor call also reported a 6 percent decline in its first-quarter revenue to $646.5 million from $691 million the prior year.

RxSaver allows users to comparison-shop for the best drug prices and to claim savings through bar codes and coupons. The company earns a transaction fee on sales, which is part of the base price.

Digital coupon firm RetailMeNot, previously owned by Vericast, acquired RxSaver three years ago as part of its plan to move into healthcare services. Backed by MacAndrews & Forbes, Vericast used the money from its RetailMeNot sale to pay down loans and buy back roughly $336 million of bonds, Bloomberg previously reported.

Vericast currently has debt totaling some $2.7 billion and about $60 million in cash, according to sources. It’s unknown how Vericast will use the proceeds from the sale. The company has been floating the idea of a deal with GoodRx for several months.

Vericast had been planning a $1.8 billion bond sale in March, but plans evaporated over terms. Creditors had been pushing for RxSaver to be transferred to a subsidiary as part of the debt deal, per the report.

Bond trading data from Trace showed that Vericast’s 8.375 percent first-lien notes come due next year, trading at about 101 cents on the dollar. Its term loan is quoted at around 93 cents, according to Bloomberg data.

GoodRx filed an initial public offering (IPO) at $33 per share and started trading on Sept. 23, 2020. Shares escalated 53 percent on the first day. The firm turned a $55 million profit in the first half of last year, up from $31 million. Revenue was up about 48 percent to $257 million.

The discount prescription space has been heating up in recent years as insured consumers started shouldering more healthcare costs with higher deductibles.