CVS’s Omnicare Files Bankruptcy After $949 Million Judgment
(Bloomberg) — CVS Health Corp. subsidiary Omnicare Inc. has filed for bankruptcy after the pharmacy-services provider was ordered to pay $949 million over claims it improperly dispensed prescription drugs to individuals in long-term care.
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Omnicare and certain affiliates sought court protection Monday in Texas listing assets of at least $100 million and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion on a Chapter 11 petition. The $949 million civil judgment is listed as Omnicare’s largest unsecured debt, though the company is challenging it.
The company has lined up $110 million in Chapter 11 financing to fund its operations and the bankruptcy. The financing and cash it will continue generating from its operations “will provide sufficient liquidity for Omnicare to meet its ongoing business obligations during the court-supervised process,” the company said.
Omincare said the Chapter 11 filing will give it time to evaluate its options to resolve the judgment and “address other financial challenges facing the broader long-term care pharmacy industry.” The company said it could pursue a standalone restructuring of its business or sell its business.
The company sought court protection after failing to reach a settlement with government authorities “and has received no assurance that the US would not immediately begin taking enforcement action with respect to the judgment,” Omnicare Co-Chief Restructuring Officer Matthew Frank said in a Monday court filing.
Omnicare said it has also been under financial pressure due to economic trends that have negatively impacted operators of long-term care facilities. Those include a tightening job market, falling reimbursement rates and an overall decline in the use of long-term care facilities amid a shift toward outpatient care.
A handful of Omnicare clients that operate long-term care facilities have also filed Chapter 11 over the last couple of years, including Genesis Healthcare, Petersen Health and LaVie Care Centers, according to court documents. Omnicare holds about $50 million in unsecured claims in these earlier three bankruptcies, which have resulted in lost revenue and bad accounts receivables, and only LaVie remains a client, Frank said.
The bankruptcy filing comes weeks after Bloomberg News reported Omnicare was working with Alvarez & Marsal Inc. to help with its cash flow and operations. Filing Chapter 11 will likely pause efforts by the government to collect the judgment.