Suitors for Boots are to begin meeting with the high street chemist’s management this week as owner Walgreens pushes ahead with a planned £7 billion sale, despite volatile market conditions.
American private equity firms Apollo and Sycamore Partners are among the firms to have submitted non-binding bids for Boots. They are competing against TDR Capital and the billionaire Issa brothers, who want to add the chain to their retail empire, which includes Asda.
The sale of Boots and its 2,200 stores was thrown into doubt in recent weeks after a consortium of Bain Capital and CVC Capital declined to submit a first-round bid. The group had been touted as an early frontrunner because of the involvement of CVC’s Dominic Murphy, who also sits on the Walgreens board. A source close to Walgreens said “four or five” interested parties remained.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to corporate debt markets seizing up — which threatens to impede the ability of the private equity firms circling Boots to finance an acquisition.
A source close to the Bain-CVC consortium suggested their interest could be revived if Walgreens was willing to countenance a lower price.
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City sources are sceptical that Sycamore, which is also circling fashion chain Ted Baker, will make a firm offer for Boots.
