WOONSOCKET and WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – CVS Caremark Corp.’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Western retailer and pharmacy benefits manager Longs Drug Stores Corp. has moved one step closer to completion.

The cash-and-debt agreement cleared federal anti-trust hurdles with the expiration Friday night of its waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976.

The acquisition – announced Aug. 12 (READ MORE) – is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Included are Longs’ 521 retail drugstores in Arizona, California, Nevada and Hawaii; an RxAmerica LLC subsidiary that offers pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services to more than 8 million members and prescription-drug plan benefits to about 450,000 Medicare beneficiaries; and the real estate associated with about 200 stores, three distribution centers and three offices.

CVS said last month that it “intends to unlock” the value of those Longs-owned properties “by monetizing a substantial portion of these assets over time.”

Moreover, CVS Chairman, President and CEO Thomas M. Ryan said last month, “More than 490 of the stores we are acquiring are located in the Central and Northern California and Hawaiian markets, where Longs is a leading player. Longs’ store network in these regions is excellent and is one that would take a decade or more for us to replicate through organic growth.”

The deal would bring total prescriptions filled or managed by CVS Caremark to more than 1.2 billion per year, and would grow its CVS/pharmacy retail division to about 6,800 drugstores in 41 states and the District of Columbia.

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) – the nation’s largest provider of prescription medications – operates the CVS/pharmacy stores; the CVS.com online pharmacy; Caremark Pharmacy Services; and the MinuteClinic retail-based health care subsidiary. Additional information is available at investor.cvs.com.

To learn more about Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Longs Drug Stores Corp. (NYSE: LDG) and its RxAmerica LLC pharmacy benefit management subsidiary, visit www.longs.com or www.RxAmerica.com.