Major pharmacy chain Walgreens is no longer a public company after a private equity firm bought it out, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Sycamore Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, on Thursday agreed to pay $11.45 a share for Walgreens Boots Alliance — the pharmacy chain’s parent company — for a $10 billion deal. The deal could value nearly $24 billion when debt and potential future payouts are included, according to the WSJ report. The deal is expected to be closed during the fourth quarter of this financial year.

The pharmacy giant closed about 1,200 of its stores last year, which included some of the roughly 140 Massachusetts locations. It also announced at that time that it would shutter another 500 by the end of this financial year, but whether that happens under the new sale is unclear.

Second federal judge extends block preventing the Trump administration from freezing funding

Attorneys general in New York and Rhode Island are backing a federal judge’s decision to extend a block barring the Trump administration from freezing grants and loans potentially totaling trillions of dollars. The judge Thursday granted a request for a preliminary injunction from nearly two dozen Democratic states.

Last month, the White House said it’d temporarily halt federal funding to ensure the payments complied with President Donald Trump’s orders barring diversity programs. Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James calls the funding freeze illegal. The judge says the executive branch was trying to put itself above Congress. Government lawyers argue the court lacks the constitutional authority to block a funding pause by the Republican administration.

From staff and wire reports.