// Walgreen Boots Alliance has given a deadline for prospective bidders to signal their interest
// First-round bids in the £7 billion auction for Boots must be lodged by the end of the month
Walgreen Boots Alliance has given a deadline for interested parties to lodge first round bids in the £7 billion auction for health and beauty chain Boots.
Potential buyers – which include a number of the world’s largest private equity groups and the new owners of Asda – have until the end of this month to signal their interest.
According to a report in The Times, Boots UK chief executive Sebastian James has been meeting prospective bidders this week, along with advisers at Goldman Sachs. Discussions have included the opportunity for Boots to offer a wider range of health services (including vaccinations) and an improved range of beauty brands.
The billionaire Issa brothers and private equity group TDR Capital – which bought Asda last year – have been paying close interest to the process. They are expected to make a bid for the business.
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Other private equity firms who are widely considered to be strong contenders in the process include Bain and CVC, who have joined forces for the potential takeover. The partnership includes Dominic Murphy, a senior partner at CVC who also has a seat on the Walgreens Boots Alliance board, although he is expected to distance himself from the bid.
Sources also revealed that, despite ongoing speculation that Sainsbury’s would be interested in acquiring Boots, the supermarket was reluctant to have another deal rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) after its Adsa merger was rejected last year.
The 172-year-old pharmacy chain has 2,200 stores and 550 opticians in the UK, employing around 51,000 people.
US owner Walgreens acquired it in the early 2010s and has invested £2.8 billion in the company, including £300 million in recent online and store refurbishments. It has also taken hundreds of millions of pounds in dividends from the British business.
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