// India’s Reliance Industries has emerged as another potential bidder for Boots UK
// Reliance Industries is owned by Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, one of India’s richest men
India’s Reliance Industries is currently weighing a possible bid for the UK chemist retailer Boots.
The firm joins TDR Capital, which owns Asda, a consortium of CVC Capital Partners and Bain Capital, and US private equity firm Apollo in the race to acquire the high street giant.
Reliance is in the early stages of exploring the feasibility of an offer for the Boots chain, sources said.
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Reliance Industries is owned by Billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who holds the title as India’s richest man and while deliberations are ongoing there’s no certainty Reliance will decide to pursue an approach for Boots.
Walgreens, which kicked off the sale of Boots earlier this year has said that it would consider a potential initial public offering of Boots if takeover plans fall through.
Walgreens Boots Alliance chief operating officer, Ornella Barra said an IPO had been the preferred initial approach to spin off the retailer but had been sidelined after interest from a number of buyout giants.
At the start of this week, it was revealed that Walgreens could risk losing billions after Boots was valued at a steep discount.
Walgreens has been eyeing a £7bn sale of the UK company, but according to The Telegraph, the two former suitors had suggested they would only pay a price tag of £4bn for Boots.
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