Sycamore Partners, the private equity owner of pharmacy retailer Boots, is nearing completion of a transaction to sell the business to the Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family for $9bn, according to reports. The company acquired the broader Walgreens Boots Alliance for $23.7bn in 2025 and has been working to divest various components of the group. Sources indicate the sale could be finalized within the following week.
The Weston family, a prominent Canadian business dynasty, would be returning to the UK retail landscape through this acquisition. The family previously owned the Selfridges department store chain, which it sold in 2022 for £4bn. The Westons maintain significant retail and pharmaceutical interests in Canada, including ownership of grocery retailer Loblaws and pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart. The UK branch of the family holds a majority stake in discount fashion retailer Primark through its parent company Associated British Foods.
The proposed sale follows an unsuccessful attempt by Sycamore to divest Boots to Australian pharmaceutical group Sigma Healthcare. That transaction, which would have valued the business at $10bn, was pursued during summer months but did not reach completion. Sycamore has been executing a broader restructuring of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, having already separated the group into five independent entities.
Boots operates approximately 1,800 stores across the UK and maintains a workforce of roughly 51,000 employees. The company’s headquarters in Beeston, located near the business’s 1849 founding city of Nottingham, employs approximately 6,000 staff members. Financial results from the preceding year showed revenue growth of 3.2% to £7.5bn for the period ending August 2025, with pre-tax profit increasing 25% to £337m, attributed partly to demand for weight loss treatments and beauty products.
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