Retail Beauty first reported on Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) potential sale of Boots, its iconic British pharmacy chain, in January.
Since then rumours have swirled about offers and counter offers from near and far from homegrown players such as Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the owners of the Asda supermarket chain, to major private equity firms led by Bain Capital and CVC Capital and Reliance Industries, one of the largest privately-owned companies in India.
None of the bidders wanted to fork out the US$8 billion to US$10 billion price tag WBA had in mind to sell off the 173-year-old drugstore stalwart and its highly successful Boots No7 skincare and beauty brand.
The biggest offer WBA received is said to have been in the US$5 billion to US$6 billion range. The multinational, who took complete control of Boots in 2014, decided that the figure is too low and has shelved its sale plans.
The usual suspect reasons du jour have been given for the decision to keep Boots in-house – the war in Ukraine, weak global growth and rising inflation rates. But WBA has also tapped the strong bounceback of Boots and No7 for not wanting to take an offer that it considers below the worth of the businesses.
We have now completed a thorough review of Boots and No7 Beauty Company, with the outcome reflecting rapidly evolving and challenging financial conditions beyond our control, noted Rosalind Brewer, CEO of WBA.
“It’s an exciting time for these businesses, which are uniquely positioned to continue to capture future opportunities presented by the growing health care and beauty markets. The board and I remain confident that Boots and No7 Beauty Company hold strong fundamental value, and longer term, we will stay open to all opportunities to maximise shareholder value for these businesses and across our company.”
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