Henry Schein sets timetable on $5B Covetrus animal health spinout

Henry Schein (NSDQ:HSIC) yesterday set the timetable for the spinout of its animal health business in a merger with Vets First Choice, branding the soon-to-be-public company as Covetrus.

The Melville, N.Y.-based dental products giant set the record and distribution dates for the spinout, first announced last April. Covetrus is slated to trade on the NASDAQ exchange beginning with the record date of Jan. 17, with a distribution date of Feb. 4, at which point the merger is expected to close. Assuming that the federal government shutdown continues, trading in Covetrus is anticipated on a “when-issued” basis for Jan. 28 under the CVETV symbol, until “regular way” trading begins on the first business day after Feb. 4 using the CVET symbol, Schein said.

Each HSIC share is due to receive a 40% dividend in the spinout, the company said. The stock closed up 1.7% at $75.37 apiece yesterday; with roughly 152.4 million shares in play, the valuation on the Schein portion of the combined business would be $4.60 billion at that price.

The spinout also means a dual market for HSIC shares between Jan. 17 and Feb. 4, Schein added, with regular-way trading under its usual symbol and “ex-distribution” transactions under the HSICV tag that have no entitlement to the Covetrus distribution.

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