Boots has been sold to the Canadian Weston family for USD $8.9 billion (£6.7 bn), it was announced today.
Weston’s holding company Wittington Investments said it entered a “definitive agreement” with The Boots Group to buy Boots’ retail operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, the No7 Beauty Company, and its Thailand and franchised businesses, with the deal “expected to close in the first quarter of 2027”.
The businesses were majority owned by Sycamore Partners, partnered with Stefano Pessina and his family, and the deal will include “assumed debt”.
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Boots’ next chair will be Wittington’s current chair Galen Weston, who said Boots is “one of Britain’s most enduring businesses”.
“We have great respect for Boots’ legacy and leading market position,” he said.
“We see 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.”
Read more: Boots becomes ‘private standalone’ company following WBA sale
Wittington said the Weston group has “deep expertise in pharmacy-led retail excellence” and it plans to “continue to invest to build on Boots’ strengths and potential”, such as “upgrading stores”, “optimising the online experience” and also “supporting the expansion of healthcare services”.
The group owns Loblaw Companies Limited, which owns Canada’s largest pharmacy business Shoppers Drug Mart, and previously owned Selfridges from 2003 to 2021.
Boots chief executive Alex Baldock said the “opportunity ahead is even greater” following all of Boots’ “social impact and commercial success to-date”.
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“I look forward to making the most of that opportunity and building a world class Boots for our colleagues, customers, patients, and communities,” he added.
Pessina said it’s been “one of the privileges of my life” to have been “so closely associated with Boots over the last 20 years”.
“We are delighted to be passing on a thriving Boots to strong and reliable owners who understand the value of its great heritage,” he said.
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Wittington partnered with Fairfax Financial on the purchase, but Wittington will have “operational control”.
Sycamore will retain The Boots Group’s other interests in Farmacias Benavides and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland.
Wittington said the deal is “subject to certain regulatory approvals” and also the “satisfaction of customary closing conditions”.
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It comes after Sigma Healthcare dropped out of talks over a potential takeover of Boots in June.
In March 2025, Sycamore agreed to buy Boots as part of its acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) in a $23.7 bn deal.
In August 2025, Boots became a “private standalone company” following Sycamore’s purchase of WBA.
