An American private equity giant’s reported $10bn takeover bid for Walgreens Boots Alliance could result in the UK’s largest pharmacy chain being sold off separately. 

Sycamore Partners, owners of US stationery chain Staples, is in discussions to buy WBA, parent company of Boots UK, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (Tuesday December 11). WBA has seen its share price tumble from more than $100m in 2015 to a recent low of $7.5bn.

It is thought that if Sycamore succeeds in taking WBA private it will seek separate ownership for Boots, with WBA executive chairman Stefano Pessina expected to play a key role in an eventual divestment – perhaps becoming a “principal owner” of Boots, Sky News has reported. 

On several occasions in the past three years WBA has been reported as seeking to sell off Boots and focus on its US pharmacy division, which faces a quarter of its stores being culled after a difficult financial year. 

A first sale attempt was called off in the summer of 2022 after no interested parties were willing to stump up a reported price tag of £7bn for Boots. 

While Boots has seen its market share rise since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in the beauty and online retail segments, it has also slashed several hundred stores since 2002.