Key facts
- Boots owner Sycamore Partners is reportedly nearing a $9 billion sale of the pharmacy chain to the Canadian Weston family.
- The deal could be finalized as soon as next week, according to reports.
- The Weston family previously owned the UK department store Selfridges, which they sold in 2022 for £4 billion.
- Sycamore Partners acquired the Walgreens Boots Alliance in 2025 for $23.7 billion.
- Boots reported revenues of £7.5 billion and pre-tax profits of £337 million for the year ending August 2025.
- Boots has approximately 1,800 stores across the UK and employs about 51,000 people.
Sycamore Partners, the private equity owner of the UK high street pharmacy chain Boots, is reportedly in advanced talks to sell the business to the Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family for $9 billion. The Financial Times reported that a deal could be finalized as soon as next week. This potential sale would signify the return of the Weston family to the UK high street, as they previously owned the department store chain Selfridges before selling it for £4 billion in 2022. The Canadian Westons are well-known in Canada for their ownership of grocery giant Loblaws and the pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart. The UK branch of the family operates separately and holds a majority stake in Primark through Associated British Foods. This prospective deal follows Sycamore Partners' unsuccessful attempt to sell Boots to Australian pharmaceutical group Sigma Healthcare earlier this year, a transaction that would have valued the business at $10 billion. Sycamore Partners has been expected to divest Boots and other parts of the Walgreens Boots Alliance group, which it acquired in 2025 for $23.7 billion, after already splitting the group into five standalone companies. Boots, founded in Nottingham in 1849, has a history of changing ownership. It merged with Alliance Unichem in 2006, was acquired by private equity firm KKR in 2007, and then saw Walgreens take a stake in 2012 before completing a full takeover in late 2014. The company operates approximately 1,800 stores across the UK and employs around 51,000 people, with about 6,000 staff at its headquarters near Nottingham. In the year to the end of August 2025, Boots reported a 3.2% increase in revenue.