Boots owner Walgreens on the verge of $10bn private equity takeover

Private equity firm Sycamore Partners is reported to be closing in on a deal, which could be completed as soon as Thursday March 6, sources told The Wall Street Journal.

The publication was also told that Sycamore could pay somewhere around $11.30 (£8.79), a share to $11.40 (£8.87) in cash, and the deal could also “include contingent value rights that would increase the value if certain targets are later reached”.

If Sycamore strikes a deal for the whole company, it is expected to keep the core US retail business and sell of other parts of the company, or take it public.

Sycamore specialises in retail and consumer investments and recently bought açaí and smoothie chain Playa Bowls in September. In 2017, it bought retail giant Staples for $6.9bn (£5.4bn), and then later split it up.

It was reported in December that Sycamore was first in talks to take Boots off the public market.

A potential sale of Boots has been attempted several times in recent years, but at least two possible sale processes were planned and then abandoned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance.