By EMILY HALL
ehall@northkitsapherald.com

POULSBO — Rite-Aid, including those in Poulsbo and elsewhere in Kitsap County, have been acquired by Walgreens.

The $17.2 billion acquisition was approved Oct. 26 by the boards of directors of Rite-Aid and Walgreens, but it must still be approved by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2016. At that time, Rite-Aid under the parent company, Walgreens-Boots Alliance.

“Our approach is to advance and broaden the delivery of retail health, well-being, beauty products and services,” Walgreens-Boots Alliance CEO Stefano Pessina said in an announcement about the proposed acquisition.

In his statement, Pessina underlined Walgreens’ goals in the acquisition, which are to provide customers with a wider variety of products and to “make healthcare items more accessible and affordable.”

Walgreens-Boots Alliance is a newly-united global enterprise consisting of Walgreens, Duane Reade, Boots, and Alliance Healthcare.

In 2014, Walgreens joined with Boots, a chain drugstore whose stores can be found in Ireland and the United Kingdom. As of August, the Walgreens-Boots Alliance had more than 370,000 employees in 13,100 stores in 11 countries. With a presence in over 25 countries, it is the largest retail pharmacy in the United States and Europe.

For the time being, the eight Rite-Aid stores and five Walgreens stores in Kitsap County will still operate under their respective names.

The manager of the Poulsbo Village Rite-Aid said he could not speculate on how the acquisition may affect staffing and services at the store, and declined to  comment further.