Canada’s Westons agree to buy Boots for $8.9 billion

Canada's Weston family has agreed to buy Boots, the British pharmacy chain, for $8.9 billion including debt. The family's holding company, Wittington Investments, announced the deal on Wednesday. It is buying Boots from private equity firm Sycamore Partners and the family of Stefano Pessina, the former executive chairman of Walgreens Boots Alliance. The deal marks the Westons' return to British retail. The family sold the London department store Selfridges in 2022.reuters+5

Wittington is buying the deal together with Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings ↘ 1.27%, but Wittington will run the business. The Globe and Mail reported that Fairfax will pay $2.3 billion for a 50% stake in Boots. Galen Weston, Wittington's chairman, will become chairman of Boots. The deal needs regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.bangkokpost+2

What's included

Wittington is getting Boots' stores in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, No7 Beauty Company, the franchised businesses and Boots Retail (Thailand), which has 250 stores in that country. Sycamore and the Pessina family will keep the Boots Group's stakes in Farmacias Benavides and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland.theedgemalaysia+1

Boots was founded in Nottingham in 1849. It has about 1,800 stores and 51,000 employees, and the BBC reported that it has closed hundreds of shops as fewer people commute into city centres. According to The Globe and Mail, Boots has stores close to 80% of the UK population and a loyalty program with 17 million members.theglobeandmail+1

"We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership, further capital investment, and the renewed operating focus required to serve customers with excellence," Weston said. The new owners plan to invest in stores and online sales and to expand healthcare services.bangkokpost+2

A familiar business

The Westons control Loblaw Companies, which owns Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's largest pharmacy chain. Shoppers has about 1,350 stores. When reports of a deal surfaced in late September, RBC Capital Markets analyst Irene Nattel wrote that there is "substantial organizational knowledge and understanding of retail pharmacy within the Weston family of businesses." She said she expected little effect on Loblaw or George Weston because the purchase would go through Wittington, the family's private company.cbc

Fairfax chief executive Prem Watsa said he was confident Wittington would be "an excellent steward of the Boots business".theglobeandmail

Sycamore's Walgreens plan

The sale is a major step in Sycamore's plans for Walgreens. Sycamore took Walgreens Boots Alliance private in 2025 in a deal valued at about $10 billion. The Globe and Mail put the total value of that buyout at $24 billion. According to the BBC, Sycamore owned Boots for about 18 months.bbc+2

"We are delighted to be passing on a thriving Boots to strong and reliable owners who understand the value of its great heritage," Pessina said. Boots chief executive Alex Baldock said "the opportunity ahead is even greater".theglobeandmail+1