Walgreens, Humana talk equity partnership

Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance and health insurance company Humana are discussing a potential deal in which each company would acquire ownership stakes in the other, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Why it matters: It appears that talks of a Walmart-Humana deal have cooled. But like other large health care industry deals, a Walgreens-Humana equity partnership would fight off threats from companies like Amazon to own more health care purchases, and threats from the aging baby boomer generation.