PERRY HAS ACQUIRED 37 STORES IN SIX DEALS DURING 1985

PERRY HAS ACQUIRED 37 STORES IN SIX DEALS DURING 1985, the firm disclosed in an Aug. 28 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register $50 mil. in debentures. The biggest block of stores was purchased in the acquisition of the 27-unit Apex Drug chain. The cost of the 37 stores totaled $32.4 mil. Perry is offering the 25-year debentures to repay all outstanding short term bank debt. Perry is carrying about $34 mil. in short-term debt. The company said it has been financing acquisitions in part with short-term debt. Perry paid $23.7 mil. in cash for Apex on March 30. Based on Apex fiscal 1984 sales of $50.1 mil., Perry paid approximately .5 times sales for the acquisitions. Apex showed a $1.3 mil. loss in fiscal 1984. Apex sales have apparently been declining in 1985. For the nine months ended July 31, Apex sales were $22.9 mil. -- - less than half the chain's total sales for fiscal 1984. Perry sales for the nine months ended July 31 reached $376.7 mil., a 37% increase over the $275.5 mil. reported for the nine months ended July 31, 1984, the filing notes. Drugstore products accounted for 73.4%, or $276.5 mil., of sales for the nine months ended July 31, 1985. At $67.7 mil., Rx sales for the nine-month period accounted for 24.5% of Perry drugstore product sales, the SEC filing indicates. The importance of Rx sales to Perry has been on the rise with Rxs accounting for 23.7% of drugstore sales in fiscal 1984 and 23% of drugstore sales in 1983. Explaining the increasing ratio, Perry stated that it "has been expanding its Rx drug business by promoting the use of less costly generic drugs by entering into arrangements with insurance companies, health maintenance organizations and other health administrators for the sale of prescription drugs under third party reimbursement programs, and by a health information advertising program." Chart omitted.