Boots Buyout RIL and US-based Apollo Global Management jointly inch closer to Boots buyout: Report
Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) along with American buyout firm Apollo Global Management have emerged as frontrunners in acquiring Walgreens Boots Alliance’s UK-based retail chemist and drugstore units.
RIL and Apollo Global Management have jointly placed a binding bid for the retail pharmacy chain Boots, valuing it at over $6.3 billion, Bloomberg reported.
A successful bidder can be announced in the coming week, the report said, adding that deliberations are going on, and there is no certainty that they will lead to translation.
Britain’s billionaire Issa brothers (Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the owners of another popular retail chain Asda) and TDR Capital were other bidders, but they were considering leaving the race over price difference.
PE groups Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners were also believed to have been trying to make a winning bid, but quit early.
Walgreens has been seeking a valuation of about £7 billion ($8.8 billion) for Boots, the report added.
However, Walgreens intends to hold a stake in the pharmacy chain Boots.
It had decided to sell Boots in December last year to focus on healthcare in the US market.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is an Anglo-Swiss-American holding company headquartered in the US.
It owns retail pharmacy chain Walgreens, apart from Boots.
It also has many pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution firms in its basket.
The company operates a network of over 2,200 stores across the UK, private-label brands such as No7 Beauty and operations across several countries.
