Canada's No 3 food retailer overpays for pharmacy chain amid retail squeeze

Toronto

METRO Inc, Canada's third-biggest food retailer, on Monday agreed to buy pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group for C$4.5 billion (S$4.9 billion) for cash and stock, paying what analysts said was a "steep" premium to protect against risks facing the retail sector.

The deal comes at a time when global retail giants like Amazon.com Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and CostCo are expanding into Canada while online operators are taking away market share from bricks-and-mortar retailers.