Boots owner explores London listing
The US owner of Boots is considering a £7 billion London listing of the high street chain as it looks to offload the business.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is understood to be exploring options for Boots, after it abandoned the sale of the British business last year.
Boots’ management is said to be pushing Walgreens towards an initial public offering (IPO), which would be expected to value it at around £7 billion, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the talks.
It comes just weeks after Boots offloaded its pension scheme to financial services company Legal & General in a £4.8 billion deal.
The move, which was said to be a precursor to its owner restarting the sale of Boots, will leave it up to L&G to pay members’ pensions directly to them, winding up the old Boots pension scheme.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, also known as WBA, was formed through the combination of Walgreens and Alliance Boots in 2014.
The transaction brought together two retail giants with "iconic brands, complementary geographic footprints, shared values and a heritage of trusted healthcare services through pharmaceutical wholesaling and community pharmacy care, dating back more than 100 years".
