Boots weighs $10bn sale as owners drop London IPO plan

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Highlights

Sycamore Partners is exploring a $10bn sale of Boots, engaging with the Weston family and Sigma Healthcare after shelving plans for a London IPO.
Boots' UK retail and pharmacy sales rise with revenue up 3.2 percent to £7.5bn and pre-tax profit surging 25 percent to £337mn for the year ending August 2025.
Sigma Healthcare and the Weston family, both with major retail and pharmacy holdings, are competing to acquire Boots as strategic buyers amid renewed international expansion efforts.

Sale talks gather pace

As first reported by Financial Times, Sycamore Partners entered talks before Easter with potential strategic buyers for Boots, according to people familiar with the matter. The discussions have progressed with the Canadian branch of the Weston family, while Australian pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare is also competing for the business.

Sycamore took control of Boots last year through its $23.7bn acquisition of parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance. Since then, it has split the wider group into five standalone companies, with Boots among the businesses now being assessed for a sale rather than a public listing.

The potential deal would mark another turn in Boots' prolonged ownership uncertainty. Walgreens had already explored a sale in 2022, but that process was abandoned after bids from Apollo and TDR Capital failed to meet expectations.

Retail recovery and buyer interest

Recent management and trading updates had pointed to a possible London IPO. Last month, Boots appointed former Currys chief Alex Baldock as its new chief executive, a move seen as supporting preparations for a stock market return.

Boots said on Tuesday that demand for new beauty brands and weight-loss jabs lifts both retail and pharmacy sales in the UK. Revenue rises 3.2 per cent to £7.5bn in the year to the end of August 2025, while pre-tax profit jumps by a quarter to £337mn, helped by the reversal of impairment charges.

For the Weston family, a purchase would bring it back into UK retail after the 2022 sale of Selfridges for £4bn. Through Wittington Investments, the family owns Loblaw and pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada, while its British interests include Primark owner Associated British Foods and Fortnum & Mason. Sigma, which merged with Chemist Warehouse Group in a $5.8bn deal last year, is pursuing international expansion and already operates across Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and Ireland.

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