Walgreens Owner Nears Deal to Sell British Pharmacy Chain Boots
Sycamore Partners is in talks with billionaire Weston family about deal valued at roughly $9 billion, including debt
Walgreens’ private-equity owner is nearing a deal to sell U.K. pharmacy chain Boots for close to $9 billion including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
It has been discussing a deal to sell Boots to the Canadian arm of the Weston family, which owns a food-business empire, the people said. A deal could be completed in the coming weeks, assuming talks don’t fall apart.
The details
Sycamore Partners took Walgreens private in 2025 in a deal valued at $24 billion including debt (and roughly $10 billion without). It separated the company into five units to facilitate potential sales of noncore units, including Boots.
Boots houses the former international businesses of Walgreens, which includes Boots operations in the U.K. and businesses in Thailand, Mexico, Germany and China.
The Weston family, worth billions, is a Canadian-British food-business clan that traces its roots to a bakery business founded in Toronto in 1882. The family’s Canadian contingent oversees an empire that includes Loblaw, Canada’s largest food retailer and the operator of Shoppers Drug Mart, one of the country’s biggest pharmacy chains.
In the U.K., another part of the family is invested in Associated British Foods, a large food-processing company and retailer.
The context
Walgreens was in the midst of a turnaround effort when Sycamore bought it. Its market value had dropped more than 90% from its roughly $100 billion peak in 2015.
Selling Boots at the price being discussed would be an early win for Sycamore, which is poised to make a sizable return on the sale. It would also allow the firm to focus on reviving Walgreen’s U.S. operations. The pharmacy chain has roughly 8,000 stores across all 50 states and Puerto Rico, according to its website.
Sycamore, which is based in New York, oversees assets of about $14 billion and largely focuses on buying retail-related businesses. Its holdings include Staples, an office-supply retailer, and KnitWell Group, which oversees Talbots, Soma and Ann Taylor, among other fashion brands.