May 22 (Reuters) - Walgreens Boots Alliance ( WBA ) sold

$400 million worth of shares in drug distributor Cencora ( COR )

back to the company, further lowering its stake to about 12%

from about 13%, the companies said on Wednesday.

The proceeds will be used primarily for debt paydown and

general corporate purposes, Walgreens said.

For the past year, the pharmacy chain has been gradually

reducing its stake in the drug distributor.

In

November

, Walgreens sold about $674 million worth of shares in

Cencora ( COR ) and, prior to that, in

August

, sold some shares for proceeds of about $1.85 billion.

Walgreens owned about 15% in Cencora ( COR ) as of November last

year.

The sale has no impact to the long-term partnership

between the two companies, Walgreens said.

Separately, Cencora ( COR ) said it is now raising its fiscal

2024 profit forecast to $13.35 to $13.55 per share, up from the

previous range of $13.30 to $13.50 per share.