Boots’ private equity owners are considering ditching plans for a £7bn float on the London Stock Exchange in favour of a £7.5bn sale.
Sycamore Partners, which bought Boots’ parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance in August last year, has been in discussions with ABF’s majority owner the Weston family, and with Australian pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare.
Talks began before Easter, The Financial Times reported, and have since progressed. A London listing is said to remain the preferred option, though a sale would potentially be seen as more attractive if it can be completed sooner and for a good enough price.
The Westons also own Fortnum & Mason along with the Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws, and previously owned Selfridges until 2022.
Sigma is listed on the Australian stock exchange, where it owns a pharmaceutical wholesale business and retail chain, as well as operating stores in New Zealand, Ireland and Dubai. The company confirmed it had engaged in discussions over a possible sale of Boots on Wednesday.
Reports Sycamore was working with consultants on a possible strategy overhaul in preparation for a London IPO emerged in April. Sycamore was expected to go ahead if it could achieve a valuation of £7bn.
The announcement in May of outgoing Currys chief Alex Baldock as Boots’ new CEO from autumn was seen as a boost for Boots’ stock market appeal. Baldock is widely credited with saving Currys, and the electrical chain’s stock market value fell by more than £160m the day his departure was announced in March.
Read more: What makes Alex Baldock right for Boots’ IPO hopes?
It would not be the first time City hopes of a Boots IPO have been dashed. Walgreens ditched plans for a possible IPO in 2024 while engaged in talks with private equity players. The following year it agreed to a $10bn takeover offer from Sycamore, which then split the company into separate parts, among them the UK-headquartered Boots Group.
Newly filed accounts at Companies House show Boots’ like-for-like store sales increased by 5.8% in the year to the end of August 2025. Boots UK revenue rose 3.2% to £7.5bn, while profit before tax climbed by 25% to £337m. Boots.com revenue grew by 18.3%.
Pharmacy sales rose by 5% as Boots delivered over 800,000 NHS Pharmacy First consultations in England. Vaccinations and weight-loss treatments were the paid-for services that proved especially popular, according to the retailer.
Boots also launched more than 50 new beauty brands during the year.
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