Boots’ owner has agreed an $8.9bn deal to sell the retailer to the billionaire Weston family, whose British arm controls ABF and Fortnum & Mason.
The deal includes Boots’ retail operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, its No7 Beauty Company, and its Thailand and franchised businesses.
The health & beauty retailer’s owner Sycamore Partners, in partnership with Stefano Pessina and his family, will retain ownership of The Boots Group’s other interests in Farmacias Benavides and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland.
It will be Boots’ second change of ownership in little over a year, after Sycamore Partners bought its former parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance in August 2025.
The latest deal has been struck between Sycamore Parners and Wittington Investments, the holding company of the Weston family based in Canada, whose chairman Galen Weston will now also become chairman of Boots.
“We have great respect for Boots’ legacy and leading market position,” he said. “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.”
The acquisition is in partnership with Fairfax Financial, a Toronto-based holding company, with Wittington to have operational control of Boots when the deal closes.
The Weston group in Canada owns the major supermarket Loblaws, as well as Shoppers Drug Mart, the country’s largest pharmacy and health & beauty retailer.
Wittington previously owned Selfridges in the UK from 2003 to 2021.
Sycamore Partners MD Stefan Kaluzny said: “One year ago, we re-established Boots as a standalone company, allowing its management team and more than 50,000 colleagues to focus solely on their business and customers. This transaction is a testament to the work they have done and the incredibly bright future ahead.”
Alex Baldock, the former Currys chief who started in his new role as Boots CEO in September, said: “For all of our social impact and commercial success to date, the opportunity ahead is even greater. I look forward to making the most of that opportunity and building a world-class Boots for our colleagues, customers, patients, and communities.”
Stefano Pessina said: “We are delighted to be passing on a thriving Boots to strong and reliable owners who understand the value of its great heritage.
“Our best wishes go with them as they lead Boots into its next chapter, and our sincere thanks go to all on the Boots’ team who helped us deliver so much over the past 20 years.”
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