Highlights
- Deal covers Boots’ UK and Ireland retail operations, Boots Opticians and No7 Beauty Company
- Boots has about 1,800 UK stores and more than 51,000 employees
- The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027
- The Westons also own Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart and Primark’s parent company
BOOTS is being sold to the billionaire Weston family in a $8.9 billion (£6.7bn) deal, marking another change of ownership for one of Britain’s best-known pharmacy and retail chains.
Wittington Investments, the Canadian holding company controlled by the Weston family, confirmed on Wednesday (7) that it had agreed to acquire Boots from US private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
The transaction covers Boots’ retail operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, No7 Beauty Company, as well as its Thailand and franchised businesses.
It comes only around 18 months after Sycamore took control of Boots through its $23.7bn acquisition of parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals, reports said.
Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington, will become chairman of Boots once the transaction is completed.
He said the family had “great respect for Boots’ legacy and leading market position”.
“Boots is one of Britain’s most enduring businesses, with a rich heritage, a trusted name and a vital role in everyday life across the UK and Ireland,” Weston said.
Westons plan more investment
Boots has faced a difficult period, with changing shopping habits and increased competition from online retailers putting pressure on its stores. Hundreds of branches have closed in recent years, leaving about 1,800 stores across the UK.
More than 51,000 people work across Boots and its associated businesses in the UK and Ireland.
Weston said the new owners saw scope to invest in the retailer and develop its operations over the longer term.
“We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership, further capital investment, and the renewed operating focus required to serve customers with excellence for generations to come,” he said.
Boots chief executive Alex Baldock, who was recently appointed to the role, also welcomed the deal.
“For all of our social impact and commercial success to date, the opportunity ahead is even greater,” he said.
Boots has shown signs of improvement in recent years, including through investment in beauty halls, although many of its stores have continued to receive limited investment.
A return to British retail
The purchase marks a return to UK retail for the Weston family, almost five years after it sold luxury department store Selfridges for £4bn in 2022.
The family’s British interests include Primark, through Associated British Foods, as well as Fortnum & Mason.
In Canada, the Weston family owns grocery giant Loblaws and pharmacy and health retailer Shoppers Drug Mart.
Its wider business interests have made the family one of the wealthiest in the world. The Westons have a combined fortune of almost £19bn.
End of Sycamore’s short ownership
Sycamore’s ownership of Boots will end relatively quickly compared with the retailer’s longer history of ownership changes.
The chain was previously taken private in 2007 in an £11.1bn deal involving Stefano Pessina and private equity firm KKR. At the time, it was described as Europe’s biggest leveraged buyout.
Walgreens later acquired the group in 2014, before Sycamore took it private again last year.
Under the latest agreement, Sycamore and Pessina and his family will retain ownership of other businesses within the wider Boots Group, including Farmacias Benavides in Mexico and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland in Germany.
Pessina said he was pleased to pass the retailer to its new owners.
The sale also ends the possibility of Sycamore floating Boots on the London Stock Exchange, an initial public offering that had been viewed as a potential boost for the UK market.
