Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain said yesterday that Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. could sell pharmacy assets at 12 of its in-store pharmacies to Rite Aid Corp. for $8.1 million, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The approval by Judge Drain means the closings of the pharmacies will begin today and last through the beginning weeks of September. Rite Aid is buying inventory and customer-prescription information from pharmacies at 12 of the 25 A&P supermarkets that are closing. As part of the deal, Rite Aid will notify customers in writing that their prescription information is being moved, a recommendation made by Elise S. Frejka, a consumer privacy ombudsman appointed in the case. A&P said in court papers last week that it received seven bids for pharmacy assets at 22 of the 25 stores it is immediately closing, and the Rite Aid deal was the only one that exceeded the $5 million threshold that requires Judge Drain’s approval.
