Bill Ackman's Letter to Shareholders and Board of Directors of Longs Drug

Longs’ Valuation

In light of the disparate collection of assets that comprises Longs, we believe that the conventional valuation shorthand of precedent transaction multiples, discounted cash flow analyses and trading comparables fails to reflect a fair value for the Company. The four unique value drivers that distinguish Longs include (1) owned real estate, (2) leasehold real estate, (3) the PBM business and (4) readily available operating improvements to the Company’s core retail operation.

Owned Full Service Real Estate¹

Based on the Company’s disclosure in its 2008 10-K, we believe that the Company owns approximately 3 million square feet of real estate. After discussions with real estate investors with expertise and retail ownership in the California and Hawaii markets, we believe that a very conservative $30 per square foot market rent for these properties is appropriate. At a 7% capitalization rate, the value of these properties alone would be approximately $1.3 billion.

Ground Leases and Leased Full Service Real Estate

We understand that the Company’s leases typically have a 20-year initial term with three 10-year below-market renewal options, often with a favorable purchase option in the case of ground leases. Based on the Company’s public disclosures, we believe that the Company’s current rental expense is approximately $11.60 per square foot on the approximately 7.8 million square feet of full service leased real estate. Applying a $30 per square foot market rent yields a $18.40 per square foot rent spread.

Using a leasehold capitalization rate of 9%, the leaseholds are worth approximately $1.6 billion. While it is impossible to precisely estimate the portion of this value that would accrue to Longs in a monetization of these leaseholds without reviewing underlying leases, this is another overlooked source of substantial value in the business.

With owned real estate of $1.3 billion and leased full service real estate of $1.6 billion, the Company’s real estate assets alone are worth $2.9 billion, or approximately $71.50 per share. In effect, CVS is buying Longs’ real estate and is getting its PBM business and retail operations for free.

Ackman's Letter