According to media reports in the United Kingdom, Walgreens Boots Alliance may sell its Boots pharmacies in the United Kingdom to private equity groups.
Walgreens “received a buyout proposal from Bain Capital more than two months ago,” according to the Sunday Times in London, and is “positioning itself as a frontrunner in a future auction for Boots after completing months of due diligence.” Saturday night, Walgreens was unavailable for comment.
It’s the most recent study on Walgreens’ more than 2,000 Boots pharmacies’ prospects. Walgreens was also said to be considering alternative possibilities for the Boots drugstores, including a possible spin-off into its own business.
The reports on the UK company come as Walgreens, under the leadership of new CEO Roz Brewer, is investing billions of dollars in its US pharmacy operations. Walgreens has increased their investment in VillageMD to $5.2 billion in order to accelerate the establishment of doctor-staffed clinics across the United States as part of a new “Walgreens Health” division.
Walgreens’ new management has been putting a lot more money into the company’s operations in the United States. Brewer has great aspirations for the much larger US firm, which he believes has the potential to significantly reshape the American healthcare experience.
“Imagine a day when 45% of our Walgreens stores – of the 9,100 stores that happen to be within five miles of 75% of the homes across the United States – where you can walk in and see a primary care physician that’s attached to a Walgreens drugstore,” Brewer said in an interview last month during the Forbes Healthcare Summit.
Walgreens operates over 13,000 retail stores in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
