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Walgreens Boots Alliance has struck a $10bn deal with private equity group Sycamore Partners that will bring the struggling pharmacy chain’s century-long run as a public company to an end.
Sycamore agreed to pay $11.45 a share to take Walgreens private, valuing its stock at a nearly 30 per cent premium to before deal talks were first reported in December and giving it an equity value of about $10bn, the pharmacy chain said on Thursday.
Sycamore will hold on to the US retail business and sell or spin off the remainder, which includes the UK pharmacy chain Boots, as part of a three-way split. Walgreens’ shareholders could be paid an extra $3 a share based on the sale of Walgreens’ primary care business VillageMD.
Including debt and contingent on hitting future performance targets, the deal could value Walgreens at as much as $23bn. As part of the deal, Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina, Walgreens’ executive chair and largest shareholder, will maintain a sizeable minority shareholding in the business.
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