Boots sold for 8.9 billion. The Weston family returns to the UK
The Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family has agreed to buy the health and beauty chain Boots for $8.9 billion (including debt); this marks a further change of ownership for the pharmacy chain and a return to the UK for the former owner of Selfridges. The company that owns the Canadian supermarket chain Loblaws will acquire Boots through its holding company, Wittington Investments, buying it from Sycamore Partners and the Pessina family.
The private equity firm had taken control of Boots through the acquisition of its parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., in 2025. Wittington will acquire Boots’ retail operations in the UK and Ireland, as well as other related businesses. Boots has been a fixture on British high streets for generations, combining a major pharmacy business with well-known health and beauty brands across more than 1,800 outlets.
In the last full financial year ending in August 2025, revenue rose by 3.2 per cent to £7.5 billion ($9.9 billion), and an initial public offering (IPO) was envisaged under the leadership of the new chief executive, Alex Baldock. However, in recent years, Boots has changed hands several times as part of wider corporate deals, including a leveraged buyout by KKR and Stefano Pessina and the subsequent acquisition by Walgreens.
