Weston Family to Buy Boots in $8.9 Billion Deal, Plans Investment
Canada’s Weston family has agreed to buy Boots in a $8.9bn (£6.7bn) deal from Sycamore Partners and the Pessina family. The transaction covers Boots’ UK and…
For shoppers, a change of ownership could eventually bring new investment to a familiar pharmacy chain. The boots weston family deal will see Wittington Investments buy Boots from Sycamore Partners and the Pessina family for $8.9bn (£6.7bn), with completion expected in early 2027.
The purchase covers Boots’ retail operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, No7 Beauty Company, and the retailer’s Thailand and franchised businesses. Wittington, the Weston family’s holding company, confirmed the agreement on Wednesday.
Galen Weston, Wittington’s chairman, will become chairman of Boots. He said the new owners see scope to invest in the retailer and improve its operations over the long term.
“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 for generations to come,” Weston said.
Boots has about 1,800 stores and 51,000 employees, after closing hundreds of branches across the UK in recent years. Its most recent annual results reported £7.5bn in sales, up 3.2% on 2024.
Boots Weston family deal puts investment in focus
Customers are unlikely to see immediate changes in stores, retail expert Catherine Shuttleworth said. The chief executive of savvy marketing expects improvements to emerge over time as the new owners invest.
“Expect over time is an improved shopping experience as the new owners invest in the business,” Shuttleworth said.
She described health and beauty as a “massive area for growth” and said fresh investment could support that opportunity. Weston has also signalled plans for store upgrades and an expansion of healthcare services.
That could matter beyond the shop floor. Boots sells health and beauty products and provides services including vaccines, eye tests and hearing tests. Its stores also offer everyday retail goods, while its health services have supported customers during routine needs and national crises, according to the BBC.
The chain faces a changing retail environment. Its stores have had lower footfall as more people work from home instead of visiting town and city centre offices every weekday. The company has continued to perform well despite competition and changing shopping habits, the BBC reported.
Shuttleworth said repeated ownership changes had distracted the business. Sycamore Partners owned Boots for 18 months, while the retailer has experienced several ownership changes over the past two decades.
Wittington will have operational control of Boots through an arrangement with Fairfax Financial Holdings, a Toronto-based holding company. Sycamore Partners, together with Stefano Pessina and his family, will retain The Boots Group’s Farmacias Benavides in Mexico and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland in Germany.
The Weston family already owns Canadian grocery chain Loblaws and pharmacy business Shoppers Drug Mart. The family’s separate UK branch is the majority owner of Associated British Foods, the parent company of Primark. Boots traces its origins to an apothecary opened by John Boot in Nottingham in 1849.
The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2027.
Source: bbc.co.uk
