The Weston family of Canada has agreed to buy Boots for $8.9bn (£6.7bn) from US private equity firm Sycamore Partners and the Pessina family. Wittington Investments, the family's holding company, confirmed the deal on Wednesday.
The 177-year-old pharmacy and retail chain will retain its UK and Ireland operations, Boots Opticians, No7 Beauty Company, and its Thailand and franchised businesses under the new ownership. The transaction is expected to complete in early 2027. Fairfax Financial Holdings, a Toronto-based holding company, is partnering in the acquisition. Sycamore and the Pessina family will keep Farmacias Benavides in Mexico and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland in Germany.
Boots operates about 1,800 stores across the UK with 51,000 employees. The chain generated £7.5bn in sales in its most recent annual results, a 3.2% increase on the previous year. The company has closed hundreds of branches in recent years as UK working patterns shifted and footfall declined.
Galen Weston, who will become chairman of Boots, said the family saw "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." He signalled plans to upgrade shops and expand healthcare services.
Catherine Shuttleworth, chief executive of retail consultancy Savvy Marketing, said shoppers were unlikely to see immediate changes but could "expect over time an improved shopping experience as the new owners invest in the business." She said health and beauty offered "massive area for growth" and that the frequent ownership changes had been "an unhelpful distraction."
Sycamore owned Boots for only 18 months. The Weston family also owns the Canadian grocery chain Loblaws and pharmacy business Shoppers Drug Mart. They previously owned Selfridges from 2003 to 2021, selling it for $4bn. The separate UK branch of the Weston family is the majority owner of Associated British Foods, parent of Primark. The Westons were ranked fifth on this year's Sunday Times Rich List with combined wealth of almost £19bn.