Quartet of lenders being lined up to support Boots bid

Reliance Industries and Apollo Global Management, the joint bidders for British health & beauty retail giant Boots, are reported to have lined up a quartet of lenders to support their planned £5 billion-plus takeover of the chain.

Doubts were cast on the pair's ability to get a deal over the line earlier this week give the jitters in the global debt markets over funding large-scale takeovers at the moment.

However, according to Sky News, the pair have lined up Royal Bank of Canada, Credit Suisse, Santander and Bank of America to fund the bid and the news service claims insiders have said that the deal to purchase the chain from US giant Walgreens Boots Alliance remains on track.

It is understood that Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) may agree to retain a significant minority stake in the business to ensure a deal gets over the line. However a potential bid from ASDA owners, and UK-based billionaire brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, may not materialise. Early potential joint bidders, private equity houses Bain and CVC, are said to have excited the process.

WBA has decided to divest Boots, which it acquired in 2006, as it focuses on its core market in the US.

Reliance Industries, which is owned by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, is also said to be considering a bid for Revlon. The US cosmetics giant has entered a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process in the US citing a high level of debt and rising supply chain costs for its woes. Apollo Global Management is a leading US private equity house.