Recommend Rite Aid (RAD) shareholders defer a decision on the reverse split until after 2020 guidance is released and prepare to make major BOD changes at the July Annual Meeting

Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/30/2019 -- Today Chris Komatinsky released the following open letter to Rite Aid Corporation Shareholders (NYSE: RAD):

Fellow Rite Aid (RAD) Stockholders:

I haven't published a letter to Rite Aid Shareholders since September 30th. Like most of you that I have been talking to and corresponding with, I was disappointed by the results of the October Annual Meeting but hopeful that the large votes of no confidence in the Rite Aid Board of Directors (BOD) (3 incumbent Directors received just 57% of votes FOR reelection including our now Chairman of the Board and the Say on Pay Proposal was rejected with 84% AGAINST) would compel changes in actions to be more shareholder friendly.

Based on recent actions, the message from shareholders was clearly not heard. Rite Aid Executives and the BOD continue implementing shareholder unfriendly actions including actions that protect themselves from being held accountable by shareholders. But first, the state of our Rite Aid company.

Again, the green shoots, PBM growth and Pharmacy prescription sales, get a little taller. Pharmacy front end sales are struggling. Management has provided no detailed strategy on how they are going to turn this around. 3rd quarter Pharmacy front end results (lost sales) and costs were also affected by challenges and costs in moving retained Pharmacy distribution to their new/final retained distribution centers (they had 9 months to plan this and still didn't execute it well). They also signed a new 10 year drug distribution agreement with McKesson that's "an enhancement in value from our current existing contract". Unfortunately, Rite Aid provided no details on this value and the earliest we will get any insight will be in April when Rite Aid provides Fiscal Year 2020 guidance.

The Rite Aid BOD has made three actions since the October Annual Meeting that I consider shareholder unfriendly.

First, the BOD approved 6,000,000 in share grants to Rite Aid Senior Executives based on Fiscal Year 2019 performance. CEO John Standley received a 2,377,000 share grant. COO of Rite Aid Stores Bryan Everett received 481,000 share grant. Rite Aid missed on EBIDTA. Rite Aid wasted $34 million on the Albertsons merger agreement. Rite Aid wasted millions by not executing the transition of Pharmacy distribution effectively. Rite Aid wasted $14 million on a scrapped point of sale software update. Rite Aid failed to convey a complete standalone strategy beyond Bonus Cash and increasing Pharmacy prescription count. Rite Aid stock price plummeted below $1.00. Rite Aid paid out large retention bonuses. Clearly the BOD thinks all the Rite Aid Senior Executives deserve a trophy for just trying. Also, the grant was made based on a share price that may be substantially undervalued with material non-public information on the unknown benefit of the new McKesson drug supply agreement. Shareholders told the BOD that they weren't aligning pay with performance in October. Clearly the message was not received as the trend continues.

Second, the BOD has just rushed a shareholder resolution on whether to authorize a reverse split of Rite Aid stock to maintain the stock listing. The success of the reverse split depends upon Wall Street's assessment of Rite Aid's prospects going forward. Right now this is uncertain in Wall Street's opinion because of a lack of detail on Rite Aid Management's Strategic Plan and the lack of detail on the benefit of the new McKesson deal. There is no need to rush as Rite Aid has 6 months from the early January notice date to cure the $1.00 average price violation and the market will get a chance to assess the benefits of the new McKesson deal when Fiscal Year 2020 guidance is provided in April 2019 with the Q4 FY 2019 results. The reverse split is also a potential tool by Rite Aid Management and the BOD to get the stock ownership into more passive hands that would further entrench them in place. I recommend shareholders abstain from the reverse split vote (non-votes will count against the proposal) and vote FOR the authorization to adjourn the Special Shareholder Meeting to a later date.

Third, the BOD moved up the next annual meeting to July 2019 which provided only a short 2 week window to nominate BOD members after barely 2 months to evaluate whether the BOD was now acting in a more shareholder friendly manner. I provided a BOD nominations for 2 qualified individuals (at least more qualified than the current contingent) 5 days before the submittal deadline but received a rejection from Rite Aid at the close of business on the deadline date for an obscure "you're not a shareholder of record" even though you own Rite Aid shares reason. I plan on appealing to the State of Delaware and SEC, but I'm sure they'll fight as it seems like they're only giving lip service to being more shareholder friendly when in fact they are doing everything they can to remain in control of our company.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid (RAD) Stockholder

Contact:
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Shareholder
(310) 947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Recommending that at least 5 of the Incumbent Rite Aid BOD Members need to be replaced

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 10/03/2018 -- Contact:
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Shareholder
(310) 947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

Fellow Stockholders:

On Thursday, 27 Sep, Rite Aid released their latest earnings report and finally filed the proxy for the 30 Oct annual meeting. The good news is that there are green shoots of growth in both the Pharmacy and Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) operations. The bad news is the money and time wasted on the Albertsons Merger ($19 million in the past quarter, $34 million in total), the minimum magnificent changes proposed for the Board of Directors (BOD), the proposed appointment of an incumbent director to the now separated Chairperson of the Board position, and no change Rite Aid management.

I'll go into detail below why I believe the changes proposed are insufficient and why you should vote "Against" at least 3 additional incumbent BOD members (I'd suggest Marcy Syms, Joseph Anderson, and Michael Regan (Marcy Syms is on the Compensation Committee, Joseph Anderson Chairs the Governance and Nomination Committee, Michael Regan is on the Compensation and Audit Committee and was on the Albertsons Negotiation Committee).

Why the proposed BOD changes are minimum magnificent:

1st: Since no change would have been unacceptable, changing 3 BOD members is the minimum needed to show "change" while potentially allowing the status quo to continue for at least another year. With the majority of the members unchanged, there is no way for shareholders to drive change through the new BOD members if the incumbent BOD members continue business as usual.

2nd: I believe the skillsets of the incumbent BOD members are insufficient for the current Retail and Healthcare environment. At most we have 2 BOD members out of 9 in these most critical areas and I believe that Marcy Syms retail experience and Kevin Lofton healthcare experience isn't particularly relevant to the current industry environments. The proxy talks about the need to have BOD members who know the company as an argument against bigger changes right now, despite the fact that they have done little to change the broken company culture, which continues to affect revenues/profits at our stores. I believe navigating the retail and healthcare industry changes is a much bigger priority right now.

We need BOD members who know the current state of the retail and healthcare industries, know the players to facilitate strategic discussions, and who can think creatively with regard to strategic options. I'm actually quite flabbergasted that I nominated someone with these credentials, Brittain Ladd, and the Rite Aid nominating committee chose not to add him to the BOD. I'd recommend shareholders re-nominate Brittain at the Annual Meeting.

Why the proposed appointment of an incumbent director to the now separated Chairperson of the Board position is a bad idea:

The purpose of separating the positions is create a structure that holds the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) accountable for their decisions and performance. How likely is Mr. Bodaken, an incumbent director that has already approved of CEO decisions and performance (that shareholders disagreed with), to suddenly start holding the CEO accountable? The named Chairperson of the Board should be an outsider, someone who can independently analyze the company performance and "corporate culture" and repair it.

Why a change in Rite Aid management is justified:

Given the green shoots in both the Pharmacy and PBM segments, is the BOD assessment that John Standley is "best situated to serve as Rite Aid's Chief Execution Officer" based on his extensive industry experience and in-depth understanding of all aspects of the Company the right way to go. Based on the reasons below, I think John Standley has shown poor leadership and the right way to go is let John Standley finish his yearly contract and then not renew it.

1st: John Standley was the strongest proponent of the flawed Albertsons merger agreement which resulted in wasted time and $33 million in wasted shareholder resources. I'm a firm believer that one should stand behind their ideas/decisions. Instead of standing behind his idea/decision of tying up with Albertsons, John Standley made sure to get a $3 million retention bonus as a consolation prize. This self-serving retention bonus subsequently made it more difficult to negotiate a contract with Southern California Rite Aid Pharmacy employees.

2nd: The current Rite Aid culture and internal controls allowed a VP of Advertising to steal $5.7 million over more than a decade. The CEO is responsible for the company culture and internal controls.

3rd: John Standley has spent little effort focusing on the effective operation of the Pharmacy stores (He's been busy trying to sell the company and accelerate his stock options) until just recently which is why Rite Aid is in the position it is now. We're glad that this is now a priority but it's clearly an area John Standley has NO in-depth understanding of.

4th: Wall Street has shown no confidence in John Standley's leadership as evidenced by the current share price, and the stock price will not be marked up by Wall Street until they see significantly more change than the "band aid" placed on a deep wound currently.

5th: Rite Aid plans to right size the corporate processes for the now smaller footprint. Shouldn't this effort include rightsizing Rite Aid Management salaries for the now smaller earnings potential? Shouldn't we see significant Corporate downsizing, given we are half the size we used to be?

6th: If you've lost the respect of your stakeholders (your employees and your shareholders) and aren't succeeding with your customers compared to your peers, it's a clear sign it is time for you to go.

Individual shareholders holding over 37 million shares (registered at https://sites.google.com/view/rightriteaid) believe there should be greater changes than those proposed in the proxy statement for the Oct 30th Annual Meeting. You can do that by voting "Against" the BOD nominations of Marcy Syms, Joseph Anderson, and Michael Regan.

We're interested in communicating with other shareholders to hear their opinions/rationale so we can speak with a united voice.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid Stockholder
(310) 947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Today Chris Komatinsky released the following open letter to Rite Aid Corporation Shareholders (NYSE: RAD):

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/11/2018 -- Contact:
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Shareholder
310-947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

Fellow Stockholders:

One month has passed since the Aug 8th termination of the merger agreement with Albertsons. A merger agreement that Rite Aid wasted considerable time and money to push but was very much disliked and rejected by Rite Aid shareholders. This is a situation where a reasonable person would expect some significant, relatively quick changes given the chasm between shareholders and Rite Aid Leadership. Rite Aid paid significant lip service in the Aug 8th announcement to hearing and working with shareholders going forward, but as of Sep 10th there has been no (zero, na da, goose egg, zilch) visible action from Rite Aid.

In conversations with Rite Aid Investor Relations since my Aug 27th letter, Rite Aid claims that they are working with shareholders (implication that this means large institutional shareholders) but that they're unable to share names. This means one of three things: either (1) Institutional shareholders are comfortable with Standley and the BOD staying to try to sell the company in the short term, (2) Institutions are comfortable with Standley and the BOD staying to continue to operate Rite Aid as a standalone company going forward, or (3) Rite Aid is just blowing smoke on the working with shareholders claim to buy time to let Albertsons/Cerberus back into a merger after letting the market/analysts tank the stock in a vacuum of no information from Rite Aid on how they can succeed as a standalone.

If the 1st situation is true, Institutional Shareholders need to ask themselves how can Rite Aid possibly get a reasonable price for its assets with the stock price in the tank at the current time. This would then logically require that Rite Aid management generate market confidence and demonstrate an ability to operate successfully as a standalone company for a period of time which is effectively the 2nd situation

If the 2nd situation is true, Institutional Shareholders need to ask themselves if Standley and the BOD have demonstrated the skills to generate market confidence and effectively run Rite Aid in a rapidly changing environment. The current share price reflects no market confidence in Standley and the current BOD. Standley and the current BOD have never really managed and operated Rite Aid effectively if you compare Rite Aid metrics to Walgreens and CVS. Standley was recently paid a $3 million retention bonus to stick around for the Rite Aid standalone plan. All shareholders got for this $3 million was Standley sitting on his hands since the Aug 8th merger termination with no more details on how Rite Aid will succeed as a standalone. He turned down a free opportunity to get the stand alone message out by declining to be interviewed for this Forbes article (https://www.forbes.com/sites/brittainladd/2018/09/09/bad-moon-rising-rite-aid-and-the-revolt-of-the-shareholders/#1025734816ce). What idiot turns down free press with a favorable audience for your message? This undeserved bonus also undermined the relationship with Rite Aid employees; how do you justify the need for pay and benefit changes for your Southern California Pharmacy employees when $3 million is handed to the CEO for nothing? Standley has lost the ability to lead Rite Aid, if he ever had it, and his retailing expertise has long gone stale in this new fast changing environment.

I'd like to believe that the 3rd situation is not true, but the aggressiveness of the market/analyst downgrades after the merger termination including the recent Goldman Sachs (Goldman advised Albertsons in the merger deal) re-initiation of coverage on Rite Aid (a company with a $1.5 Billion market capitalization) sure smells fishy. There's probably too much money at risk for Cerberus to walk away quietly. Rite Aid shareholders can defend against this possibility by getting rid of Standley and a few BOD members immediately.

Individual shareholders holding 34 million shares (registered at https://sites.google.com/view/rightriteaid) believe there should be immediate changes including firing of Standley for cause and replacement of at least two BOD members with shareholder representatives. Further changes can wait for the October annual meeting. We're interested in communicating with other shareholders to hear their opinions/rationale so we can speak with a united voice. Convince us we're wrong. You're also welcome to join us.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid Stockholder
310-947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 08/28/2018 -- Today Chris Komatinsky released the following open letter to Rite Aid Corporation Shareholders (NYSE:RAD):

Contact:
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Shareholder
(310) 947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

Fellow Stockholders:

On Aug 8th, Rite Aid announced the joint termination of the merger agreement with Albertsons, made a statement that "we have heard the views expressed by our stockholders", announced that the Rite Aid board of directors (BOD) is evaluating governance changes at the company, and stated that Rite Aid will continue to engage with stockholders to ensure alignment between the company and its investors. As of Aug 27th, no governance or management changes, including no interim changes, have been announced. No one from Rite Aid has even tried to reach out to our large group of individual shareholders to discuss proposed changes. Has Rite Aid reached out to institutional shareholders? Blackrock? Highfields? Anyone? Is Rite Aid Management and the BOD just circling the wagons with an October 30 Annual Meeting hoping for shareholder anger over the waste of money and time to dissipate or be diluted through shareholder turnover?

I'd recommend that Rite Aid management and the BOD make an urgent visit to the nearest Rite Aid for a hearing check/hearing aids as the shareholder rejection (likely by a landslide) of the poorly thought out and self-serving merger is a much louder message than you are hearing. Typically in situations with this large a chasm between shareholders and Management/BOD, there would have been some IMMEDIATE (within a week) actions following the shareholder rejection of the merger - resignation/firing of the CEO and replacement of 2 or 3 BOD members with representatives from large institutional shareholders.

In response to the lack of action by Rite Aid Management and BOD who we have no faith to act in the best interest of Rite Aid shareholders, we're organizing shareholders again to ensure that significant change occurs at the Oct 30th Annual Meeting or sooner. If you support this effort, please visit https://sites.google.com/view/rightriteaid to log your name and shareholding or contact me by e-mail or phone.

After years of underwhelming operational performance and two failed merger attempts, it's time to right Rite Aid with new leadership that's up to the challenges of today and tomorrow and works in the best interests of Rite Aid shareholders.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid Stockholder
(310) 947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/20/2018 -- Today Chris Komatinsky released the following open letter rebuttal to the Rite Aid Corporation Presentation to ISS and Glass Lewis filed with the SEC (NYSE: RAD)

19 July 2018

Contact:
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Shareholder
(310) 947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

Fellow Stockholders:

It's finally come time for Rite Aid to make their "sales pitch" to ISS and Glass Lewis to attempt to get their recommendations for institutions to vote for the Albertsons merger. They've documented this "sales pitch" in a 37 slide presentation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 17. I use the words "sales pitch" because it clearly is put together to sell Rite Aid's condition as being weak with limited options and Albertsons as a strong and only merger partner.

Examples of Rite Aid management painting Rite Aid's condition being weak and Albertsons as strong versus the real situation:

1. Slide 6 claims that Rite Aid considered unsolicited offers for EnvisionRxOptions Pharmacy Benefit Manager. In the proxy statement, several parties were interested but there was no mention of any effort to hold an auction amongst the parties to see what the PBM could fetch. Slide 16 lists some potentially interested purchasers – Kroger, Walgreens, and Walmart. Amazon may also need a PBM to increase critical mass and add the ability to negotiate with drug makers and payors. Also, why does any deal with the PBM require a complete sale? What controlling interest sales are available to allow continued Rite Aid shareholder participation in PBM growth?

2. Slide 9 highlights the reimbursement rate pressure that is being experience by all pharmacies. While a negative to Rite Aid EBITDA, it's also an opportunity to pursue partnerships with companies with similar smaller pharmacy operations such as national operator Kroger or strong regional chains such as Publix and HEB who are experiencing similar pharmacy EBITDA pressures.

3. Slide 10 shows the Rite Aid stock performance since the Albertsons merger agreement was announced. The market clearly disagrees with the Albertsons' equity value shown on page 11 from day 1 or Rite Aid would be trading near $3/share not $1.7/share.

4. Slide 11 provides valuations based on EBITDA. Rite Aid's pharmacy margins and resulting EBITDA are significantly lower than Pharmacy competitors which is why Walgreens was able to purchase 1,938 pharmacies for $2.2 million/pharmacy (closing 600 pharmacies immediately) and still add to their earnings. What could the Rite Aid pharmacy EBITDA be if run by an effective management team? Slide 11 also doesn't mention projected growth. The proxy clearly shows Rite Aid has the biggest growth potential with revenues increasing 40% in a 5 year span and an EBITDA increase of 35%. Albertsons sees only 10% growth in revenues and 20% in EBITDA. The big driver in this difference is likely the PBM. The PBM is likely the key asset in driving additional customers to Albertsons in this proposed merger and therefore should get a richer valuation.

5. Slide 14 lists Rite Aid's Net Debt/ Adjusted EBITDA as 4.8 as of June 2, 2018. While technically not false it omits two important pieces of information; first, $220 million is still due to be received from Walgreens when the distribution centers are transferred after September 1, 2018 and second, debt also grew partly because of growth in Center for Medicaid Services (CMS) receivables for the Pharmacy Service Segment. Receivables, especially from CMS, are almost the same as cash, and this is what happens when a business is growing. The reality is that Rite Aid's and Albertsons' Net On-Balance Sheet Debt/ Adjusted EBITDA numbers are about the same. Albertsons also carries an Off-Balance sheet pension liability of $4.1 billion that will have to be paid over time. While not "officially" counted in the Debt/ Adjusted EBITDA number, this increases Albertsons' leverage by 1.5 X over Rite Aid's.

6. In Slide 23, Rite Aid mentions Albertson' Financial Momentum. Identical store sales of 0.6% and 0.2% after deeper falls last year show little to no sales growth momentum especially compared to competitors such as Kroger. The growth in EBITDA shows that Albertsons is controlling costs but how much of the most recent improvement is from temporary measures such as reduced advertising spending? Is this maintainable over time in a competitive grocery environment?

7. Slide 30 identifies plans for the Combined Company Board of Directors. Our hundreds of individual Rite Aid shareholders holding approximately 45 million shares have no confidence in John T. Standley as CEO and Board Member of the New Company given his failure to effectively adapt to the changing Health Market conditions while CEO of Rite Aid which will continue with the New Company and be compounded by the changing Grocery Market conditions. We also have no confidence in Board Members David R. Jesseck, Michael N. Regan, and Marcy Syms to provide effective and shareholder friendly Board Governance of the New Company based on their Rite Aid track records.

I'm still an "Against" vote on the merger at this time based on the low valuation of Rite Aid's assets in the merger agreement, based on no confidence in the proposed Merged Company Management and Board plans, and needing to see more proof of a sustainable turnaround in Albertson's financial momentum before irrevocably merging with them and their highly indebted balance sheet.

I also recommend an immediate change in Rite Aid CEO and the Rite Aid Board of Directors based on their poor performance in handling the Walgreens merger process, specifically their falling asleep at the controls of Rite Aid while waiting for Federal Trade Commission merger approval, their deceptive communication with shareholders following the Walgreens merger termination that the plan was to move forward with Rite Aid as a strong regional pharmacy with a fast growing PBM when in reality they began merger discussions with Albertsons from almost Day 1, and what I believe are breaches of their fiduciary duties in agreeing to the current merger terms and in "talking down" the value of Rite Aid assets to get Rite Aid shareholders to vote for the proposed merger.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid Stockholder
(310) 947-4507

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Today Chris Komatinsky released the following Open Letter to Stockholders of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD):

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/03/2018 -- Today Chris Komatinsky released the following open letter to stockholders of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE: RAD):

Fellow Stockholders:

It's been a busy week for Rite Aid, the proposed merger between Rite Aid & Albertsons, and the Pharmacy Sector. At the end of this busy week and after consideration of all this new data, I continue to recommend you vote "against" the merger and the other two items in the proxy. A summary of my thoughts on this new data are provided below:

1. Rite Aid reported earnings this week. The results reported show clear evidence of a turnaround in both the Pharmacy stores and the Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) even with the drag of $7 million in merger costs in the quarter.

2. The Rite Aid/Albertsons S-4 share registration and proxy were declared effective by the SEC and have been sent out for Rite aid shareholders to vote. Voting can be done as late as August 8th to allow you to consider additional information. Two specific items to be looking for are Albertsons' 1st quarter results sometime in mid-July and the recommendations from ISS and Glass Lewis advisory firms.

3. Highfields Capital Management issued a press release announcing their intent to vote against the proposed merger as presently constituted because "it is in the best interests of Albertsons and Rite Aid Management, but not Rite Aid shareholders". Highfields Capital Management owned 47 million shares of Rite Aid as of 3/31/2018. Their against votes added to the 45 to 50 million held by hundreds of individual shareholders who have expressed their against votes at the www.riteaidmerger.com website or to me directly by phone or e-mail brings us to 10% vocally against the proposed merger – everyone coming to the same assessment quoted above.

4. Rite Aid Management and Board of Directors have gone into full blown sales mode to try to get this merger approved by shareholders as evidenced in the desperate, arm waving statements made in their materials:

a. Rite Aid Management seems to use numbers that make Rite Aid look weaker and Albertsons look stronger to sell that we would get stronger financially from this merger. The letter to shareholders mentions a "current standalone Rite Aid leverage of 4.6x as of June 1, 2018". What they have conveniently left out is that Rite Aid will receive another $220 million as the final part of the Walgreen asset sale after September 1. In fact, page 23 of the May 15,, 2018 investor presentation lists Rite Aid leverage as 4.2x and Albertsons leverage as 4.3x. Note that the Albertsons leverage figure does not include their $4.1 Billion pension liability (Pension liability, while not included in the balance sheet, comes ahead of equity in terms of claims on the company assets). From page 140 of the proxy, a standalone Rite Aid is projected to grow revenues and EBITDA faster than Albertsons over the 5 year period. At best this merger is providing us increased scale, revenue diversification, and a 30% share of potential synergies (minus higher pension costs) in return for 70% of our higher projected growth.

b. Several proxy statements imply a detailed, analytical approach to assessing the potential positives and negatives of merging with Albertsons. When I asked Rite Aid Investor Relations to share this work so shareholders can objectively assess it, the response I received was, "What is said in the proxy is what we are disclosing." This says to me that no homework was done/is available to share, just trust us.

"there is evidence to suggest that ACI is in the early stages of enjoying the benefits of its turnaround strategy, with increasing sales and profitability"

"The Rite Aid board of directors weighed the foregoing against a number of potentially negative factors"

c. Some companies have successfully navigated challenging times over the past few years. Why would Rite Aid shareholders want to navigate the coming challenging years as a standalone or merged with the same management and board that couldn't navigate through the past challenges?

"Over the last few years, we have faced unprecedented challenges in our industry. Our management team and Board of Directors have worked hard to respond to these challenges with decisive action"

"Shareholders will benefit from the combined expertise of the Rite Aid and Albertsons management teams in leading the company"

d. Albertsons is just a potential merger partner. Kroger, in fact, would be the better, safer merger partner given their lower debt, higher store count, and higher pharmacy count. It's unlikely Kroger would want to keep Standley and the 4 Board members on as part of a merger with Kroger.

"The Rite Aid Board and management team are confident that the merger with Albertsons is the right combination, with the right partner, at the right time"

e. The Rite Aid Management and BOD letter to shareholders goes to great lengths to stress "there's probably no one else interested in acquiring Rite Aid". As detailed in the proxy, several parties expressed an interest in the PBM. The proxy makes no mention of Rite Aid Management and the BOD following up on this interest to even understand the value relative to the Albertsons merger agreement. With the lives added to the PBM already this year and the proposed business combinations announced after 20 Feb, the PBM is even more valuable in a sale or partnership.

5. Finally, the elephant in the room – Amazon's announcement to purchase Pillpack as an entry into the mail order pharmacy sector.

First, Pillpack is currently very small – I read estimates of 40,000 customers and $100 million in revenue for 2017. They are nowhere near the economies of scale in purchasing that CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and even Rite Aid have in drug purchasing. Obviously the big risk is that Amazon can subsidize this difference indefinitely to build market share. It might be an interesting Federal Trade Commission review especially given how Wall Street reacted to the announcement.

Second, Pillpack's business angle is the aggregation of multiple maintenance prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and vitamins sorted into daily, easy to open plastic bags. Super convenient, but as a Safety Engineer in my day job I immediately thought, "How can they be supplying drugs in easy to open plastic bags while most of the market is supplying drugs in child resistant containers?". The Code of Federal Regulations on drug packaging does allow an exception for non-compliant packaging for those that need easier to open packaging. I would think that the Consumer Product Safety Commission might have some concerns with easy to open drug packaging becoming the norm though.

Third, the Insurance and Pharmacy sector have moved to a 90 day supply model for maintenance medications as most efficient with co-pay incentives for using this route. From Pillpack's Billing & Insurance Webpage – "If you are currently receiving 90-day supplies, you may pay a slightly higher copay with PillPack". Higher co-pays will discourage many potential users.

Fourth, if you get sick and need a short term medication, Pillpack is not an option.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid Stockholder

Contact:
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Shareholder
310-947-4507
komatinskys@outlook.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Contact: Chris Komatinsky Individual Shareholder 310-947-4507 komatinskys@outlook.com

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/15/2018 -- Today Chris Komatinsky released the following follow-up open letter to stockholders of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD):

Fellow Stockholders:

Update to my first letter (http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3802994) to address the problems with both company leadership/stewardship and shareholder leadership.

First, I would like to thank Forbes and Bruce Japsen for taking an interest in covering our individual shareholder effort. A link to their piece is provided below:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2018/06/06/some-rite-aid-investors-rally-to-stop-albertsons-deal/?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=yahootix&partner=yahootix&yptr=yahoo#77cf527c6689

Insiders haven't "bought" what they're selling with their proposed deal:

Rite Aid's continued response to the merger is "The merger with Albertsons will "deliver compelling long-term value for Rite Aid shareholders and its customers."". If the merged value is so "compelling" why hasn't Cerberus (who can own up to 30% of the merged company) made any open market purchases of Rite Aid stock since the 20 February merger announcement? In the 4 months since the merger announcement why haven't Rite Aid Executive Officers and Board Members executed any open market purchases given this "compelling" long term value? One would think that if there was compelling value of the proposed merger, they would be eager to expand their share ownership and commitment to the proposed vision using their personal funds especially with the shares falling 30% since the deal was announced. It appears that Rite Aid's Leadership is only interested in accumulating additional shares if the shares are given to them

Grocery competition heating up to a war:

Increased competitiveness of the grocery sector amongst Amazon/Whole Foods, Walmart, and Kroger on price, service, and selection ramped up further with Target joining the fray. Walgreens also inked a deal to offer meal kits in select New York area stores. The sector is headed to a full on price war as the bigger players have implemented growth initiatives including online ordering, drive up and go, home delivery services and meal kit options. Given the rapid developments in this segment and the financial strength of the aforementioned competitors, it is highly unlikely that a highly leveraged Albertson's will be able to compete and grow profits as proposed.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/06/07/target-expands-pickup-and-same-day-delivery/

http://wtvr.com/2018/06/06/costco-target-walmart-and-kroger-price-wars-best-prices/

http://www.supermarketnews.com/deli/chef-d-meal-kits-hit-walgreens-duane-reade-drugstores

Would any competent management team merge into this environment with the highest leveraged grocery operator? Would any rational investor buy a Public Offering of a highly leveraged grocery operator in this environment? Investors wouldn't buy into the Albertson's IPO on two separate occasions when the grocery market was less competitive than it is now. Rite Aid leadership is asking Rite Aid stockholders to buy into the Albertson's IPO in approving this merger. Rite Aid's Executives and Board of Directors appear stuck in their decision/path regardless of what is happening externally in the market. This current environment exposes Rite Aid shareholders to even greater risk with likely less reward. More rational for why changes are needed to this leadership team immediately.

With the $1.70 RAD closing price on Friday June 8th, the stock market is valuing the merged equity value at $6 Billion compared to guided merged company adjusted 2019 EBITDA of $3.4 Billion. Clearly the market believes that the adjusted EBIDTA targets will not be met and that debt reduction will be difficult.

Shareholder activism gaining traction

We've received a flood of additional individual shareholders with like views on the proposed merger in the past few days and have breached the 34 million share count against the proposed merger. I encourage small shareholders who have questions to contact me by e-mail or phone. You can also visit a website set up by another individual investor – http://www.riteaidmerger.com – to log your e-mail address and stockholding. Every share matters in this effort.

We're still working to engage with large institutional shareholders for their support against the merger as well. We're real, we're rational, we've assembled a large block of shares (> 34 million), and we're ready to have a discussion on maximizing Rite Aid shareholder value.

Opportunities available to add more value than merging with Albertsons

Rite Aid as a stand alone

Following the asset sales agreement with Walgreens, Rite Aid executives indicated the plan was to use the funds to deleverage and run as a stand alone business with a focus on growing the PBM and taking advantage of the WBA generic drug purchase agreement to be more competitive. Before rushing into a deal, there needs to be a baseline set that Rite Aid can be run as a profitable standalone business. The focus should be to cut back on the capital spending for Wellness store remodels and invest some of the money in different front-of-store concepts that either drive more frequent visits or drive higher margins. While the Wellness format drives incremental improvement is sales, retail has changed significantly since the Wellness format was first rolled out. Split the remainder between debt reduction and stock buybacks. Focus activity on improving store operations and customer satisfaction.

Pharmacy Merger or Strategic Partnership with Kroger

Smaller pharmacy chains like Kroger's have experienced a drop in profitably due to reimbursement rates and concentration of prescriptions in the big three chains. Merge or partner Kroger's pharmacy chain into Rite Aid, enabling the pharmacies to participate in narrow networks and access better drug purchasing. The increased pharmacy traffic will benefit Kroger through increased traffic and sales. Similar benefits could be achieved through a strategic partnership where Rite Aid helps with the pharmacy and the grocer helps with the Rite Aid front-of-store. There's no need for Rite Aid shareholders to play in the grocery price war directly. While Rite Aid is attempting to do this with Albertson's, Kroger is clearly the stronger partner that Rite Aid should attempt to merge or partner with. This option would be a far better risk/reward opportunity for Rite Aid shareholders than the current proposed deal.

Amazon are you in or you out?

Since the announcement that Amazon was looking into entering the prescription drug business, the pharmacy sector has repositioned itself to significantly reduce entry points for Amazon to quickly and cheaply participate. One of the remaining quick and cheap entry points would be an acquisition of Rite Aid for their PBM. Cowen analyst John Blackledge recommended Amazon acquire Rite Aid for immediate penetration into the market and estimated by their own survey that 67% of Amazon Prime members would likely shift to ordering prescriptions through Amazon. The Rite Aid front end could also be redone into small format Whole Foods Markets or carry popular consumer items to better utilize the storefront compared to pharmacy competitors. Amazon could do this at a cost not much higher than building from scratch.

Walmart is aggressively working to counter Amazon

Walmart is Amazon's largest rival and they have been aggressive at competing with Amazon for growth. Healthcare is a key segment of growth for Walmart. Bringing in the Envision PBM would further enhance this by allowing them to bring additional prescription lives into their national network. Additionally, urban drug stores in upscale areas would create opportunities where Walmart may not have a strong footprint. Walmart would also be well positioned to reimagine the front-of-store area to attract more foot traffic and increase profitability. An acquisition by Walmart would effectively slam the door shut for Amazon's entry into prescription sales, a key market segment.

Sale of Majority Ownership of the PBM

Multiple parties expressed an interest in the PBM. Rather than selling the PBM in total, sell a majority interest of 51% if the price is right and the deal comes with a sharing of prescriptions in areas that Rite Aid Pharmacies operate. The PBM would probably grow much faster with a partner with more resources and it seems like insurance companies and employers are tiring of black box PBMs.

https://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/2008/3/pbms%E2%80%99-rebate-income-threatened-lawsuits-and-move-generics

Sincerely,
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid Stockholder

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Contact: Chris Komatinsky Individual Shareholder 310-947-4507 komatinskys@outlook.com

Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/11/2018 -- Today Chris Komatinsky released the following open letter to stockholders of Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD):

Fellow Stockholders:

I and my family are stockholders of Rite Aid Corporation with a position of around 1.5 million shares of the company's stock. Given the circumstances described below, someone needed to step forward to identify and try to address the problems with both company decisions/leadership/stewardship and shareholder leadership.

What are my goals with this effort? Organize shareholders as a united voice to reject the proposed merger with Albertsons and then put in place leadership that can unlock the value of Rite Aid's assets for shareholders.

First, the problems with CEO and Board of Directors (BOD) decision making/leadership/stewardship:

The CEO and BOD appear to have fixated on a merger with Albertsons as the answer rather than exploring options in a changing landscape that favored unique assets like the Envision PBM as evidenced by:

1. The negotiations with Albertsons/Cerberus where the BOD kept insisting that Rite Aid was worth more (presumably based on valuations from recent asset sales to Walgreens) until finally caving to Albertsons/Cerberus on valuation to get a deal done. Why didn't the BOD stand fast for a valuation they felt was appropriate?

2. The BOD failing to explore the interest in the Envision PBM expressed by several parties. What could a partial sale of the Envision PBM with protections for including Rite Aid pharmacies in PBM precription fills have netted? Would a partnership with the Envision PBM lead to faster growth?

3. The BOD failing to explore other alternatives such as a merger of just the Albertsons pharmacies with Rite Aid or a strategic partnership with Albertsons or other partner instead of a complete merger. Is it possible to share the benefits of working together without taking on the other company's baggage?

4. Continued pursuit of the merger even with new data such as market disagreement with the benefit of the merger with a 30% drop in Rite Aid stock, stockholder concern with Albertsons' $11 Billion debt leverage and $4 billion pension funding shortfall, stockholder concerns with valuation of Rite Aid's assets in the proposed merger agreement, stockholder concern with valuation of Albertsons' assets in the proposed merger after two failed public offerings, Moody's assessment that savings from the proposed merger may be difficult to achieve and the outlook for Albertsons debt is negative due to competitive pressures, and the continued ramp in competitiveness of the grocery sector since the agreement was announced (continued Amazon/Whole Foods, Walmart, and Kroger actions on price, service options, and selection).

The BOD and CEO fail to hold themselves accountable to shareholders for their decisions as evidenced by:

1. The BOD continues spending stockholder resources executing on the merger agreement in the face of negative market reaction to the deal.

2. The CEO pushed for this merger from the beginning. Since the merger agreement, the BOD approved a CEO "retention" bonus of $3 million payable if "the Rite Aid Board of Directors determines that the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement will not be consummated". Heads he wins, tails he wins less. Whatever happened to living with the consequences of one's decisions and actions?

3. The BOD approved further retention bonuses for the NEOs "to enhance employee retention and promote corporate performance, amidst significant volatility and uncertainty related to restructuring the company". Aren't the NEOs paid their generous salaries – 2018 compensation (Standley $9.3 million, Crawford $5.4 million, Karst $3.9 million, Everett $2.9 million) – to run the company? How are retention bonuses justifiable given the current compensation and the reduced company size and profitability?

The CEO should be held accountable if this merger is rejected by stockholders; accountability means no $3 million "retention" bonus and his immediate resignation. The BOD is supposed to ensure the company is run for the benefit of stockholders. The BOD decisions above appear counter to those responsibilities. The BOD should be held accountable by stockholders for their decisions. Stockholders should call for the immediate resignation of 5 (Jessick, Savage, Syms, Anderson, and Regan) of the 9 BOD members with replacements to be named by a stockholder committee.

Personally, I would like to see an independent investigation of CEO and BOD actions from just before the termination of the WBA merger agreement to present to make sure prior actions weren't contrary to the benefit of stockholders but that can be discussed/decided as a larger stockholder group.

Second, the problem with shareholder leadership:

Large shareholders have been entirely passive in backing Rite Aid BOD recommendations which has led to the current CEO and BOD composition and their decisions affecting share value. Large shareholders like Vanguard Group, Oppenheimer Funds, Franklin Resources, Blackrock, State Street, and CALPERS have a fiduciary duty to their investors/members that their funds are invested in companies with sound governance. The governance issues identified above will potentially cost your investors/stakeholders tens or hundreds millions of dollars. If you don't have the time/resources to engage personally, I encourage you to reach out to someone who can act in your interests. Highfields Capital Management (5% owner) is reportedly against the merger and may be concerned with Rite Aid Corporation governance. A group of individual shareholders with 2.5% ownership to date have organized against the merger and to push for governance changes. I've stepped forward to organize shareholders into a block wanting accountability so you can also contact me to start.

Small shareholders own a large percentage of Rite Aid shares but often have a difficult time getting organized to have a large enough total of shares owned to have a voice. I encourage you send me an e-mail with your e-mail address, stockholding, and questions. Another individual investor volunteer has set up and controls the content on a website www.riteaidmerger.com. If you prefer to log your info there, I'll be able to add it to my contact list,

Every share matters in this effort.

Sincerely,
Chris Komatinsky
Individual Rite Aid Stockholder

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Go to www.riteaidmerger.com or contact Chris Komatinsky or Andrew Bode

Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/23/2018 -- Rite Aid and Albertsons hosted a short notice, invite only, almost day long meeting with analysts last week. Based on the slides presented, it appears like an attempt to re-explain/re-spin the benefits of the two companies merging from the February 20 presentation with a lot more slides, slicker graphics and videos, and updated with the reported fourth quarter financial numbers. As we already knew, they'll be #5 in revenue and #1 by debt leverage in a competitive, low margin business.

It's unclear why this meeting with analysts was needed or what it accomplished since it is Rite Aid shareholders who have expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed merger. We encourage Rite Aid to schedule an open "Shareholders" day where we might get answers to questions like:

1. Albertsons is bringing a $4 Billion (That's a "B") unfunded, off balance sheet pension liability to this proposed marriage. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that this will require higher future pension contributions. How much of the projected synergy cost savings might these higher pension payments eat up?

2. An analyst today asked why a merger between a drug store and a grocery store made sense in today's market. There were several points made but we think Kermit Crawford's response where he stated that "and I think the key differentiator from the past is we're bringing this thing called EnvisionRxOptions, right, which now we have the ability to go out, attract lives and then push them into our stores" is the most relevant. Given that the PBM is the most significant driver of future revenue and profit growth, why are Rite Aid shareholders only getting 30% of the merged company equity?

3. Several parties were interested in deals involving the Rite Aid PBM prior to the recent flurry of Healthcare Integration deals. Doesn't this reduction in available Healthcare assets make the Rite Aid PBM more valuable?

4. Albertsons was able to pay its private shareholders a dividend as recently as last June. Why, if the combined companies are stronger, is the new company not projected to pay dividends for some time? Are Albertsons' private shareholders just using this merger with Rite Aid to cash out from their positions?

5. Albertsons appears to use an expensive company jet for its executives according to the S-4 registration statement. We were surprised to see this given the lessons from the corporate excesses of the 90's/00's. Is the merged company going to continue to use an expensive company jet or add this to the list of efficiencies that can be achieved?

We reiterate that we see a merger agreement that grossly undervalues the remaining Rite Aid assets and overvalues Albertsons assets and that raises the investment risks of Rite Aid shareholders by merging Rite Aid into a deeply indebted Albertsons entity (on and off balance sheet liabilities) that operates in a highly competitive food retailing business. See our prior press release (http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3770591) for more details.

One Rite Aid shareholder has set up a website, http://www.riteaidmerger.com, for further information and for shareholders with holdings of all sizes to note their intent to vote "Against" the proposed merger when proxies are sent out. Join hundreds of other individual investors and log your e-mail and shareholding in the table provided so we can send Rite Aid Management the message loud and clear.

Contact individual shareholder volunteers Chris Komatinsky (310-947-4507 or komatinskys@outlook.com) or Andrew Bode (970-765-8450 or andrewmbode@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to join the effort private

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Go to www.riteaidmerger.com or contact Chris Komatinsky or Andrew Bode

Los Angeles, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/11/2018 -- Rite Aid, the Camp Hill Pennsylvania-based drugstore chain, announced an agreement to merge with privately held Albertsons on February 20, 2018. As information to assess this deal becomes available, Rite Aid Shareholders like us do not like what we see.

We see a merger agreement that grossly undervalues the remaining Rite Aid assets and overvalues Albertsons assets. From the 06 April Albertsons Form S-4, the Rite Aid Board relied upon a "fair value" opinion from Citigroup for Rite Aid of $1.83 to $2.96 per share and for Albertsons of $23.42 to $29.06 a share. We fail to see how this valuation can be "fair" given Rite Aid's just finished sale of Rite Aid 1,900 lower performing pharmacies and 3 distribution centers for $4.375 billion and Albertsons failure to execute an initial public offering of shares due to low demand and poor investor sentiment towards traditional grocers.

We see a merger agreement that raises the investment risks of Rite Aid shareholders by merging Rite Aid into a deeply indebted Albertsons entity that operates in a highly competitive food retailing business. In the last year, Rite Aid has successfully sold assets at attractive prices to smartly reduce outstanding debt. Conversely, in the last year, Albertsons has paid a $250 million dividend to its private shareholders and executed a sale/leaseback of $1 billion in assets to fund capital spending rather than manage leverage. Meanwhile, the food retailing business has gotten more competitive with Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods and all major food retailers entry into the meal kit, pick-up and home delivery markets. To further dampen the outlook of the merged company's equity value, Albertsons investors will be looking to cash out of their merged company,positions as soon as their relatively short lock-up periods expire.

That's just our assessment. What is the market saying about the proposed merger? The stock market has assessed the value and risks of this merger with a precipitous price drop of 30% in Rite Aid stock from its price on the day of the merger announcement. Moody's has completed their assessment of the new debt to be issued to implement the proposed merger (rating of Ba2 - speculative and subject to substantial credit risk) and assigned a negative outlook due to pricing pressures in the food and drug retail sector, meaningful integration and execution risks, and high debt leverage. Both the equity and debt markets have shown zero excitement for the proposed merger.

One Rite Aid shareholder has set up a website, http://www.riteaidmerger.com, for further information and for shareholders to note their intent to vote "Against" the proposed merger when proxies are sent out. Join hundreds of other individual investors and log your e-mail and shareholding in the table provided so we can send Rite Aid Management the message loud and clear.

Contact individual shareholder volunteers Chris Komatinsky (310-947-4507 or komatinskys@outlook.com) or Andrew Bode (970-765-8450 or andrewmbode@gmail.com) if you have any questions or want to join the effort privately.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm