Boots owner Sycamore nearing $9bn sale to Canada's Weston family, report says

The private equity firm Sycamore Partners is reportedly close to agreeing a $9bn (£7bn) sale of Boots to the Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family. According to the Financial Times, talks are at an advanced stage and a deal could be finalised as soon as next week. Sycamore bought the wider Walgreens Boots Alliance for $23.7bn in 2025.

A successful deal would bring the Westons back to the UK high street, having previously owned Selfridges before selling the department store chain for £4bn in 2022. The Canadian side of the family is best known for owning the grocery chain Loblaws and the pharmacy group Shoppers Drug Mart. The UK branch of the family, which runs its businesses through a separate investment vehicle, holds a majority stake in Primark through parent company Associated British Foods.

The reported talks come months after Sycamore tried and failed to sell Boots to the Australian pharmaceutical group Sigma Healthcare in a deal that would have valued the business at $10bn this summer. Sycamore had been widely expected to spin off and sell Boots, along with other parts of the group, after completing its takeover of Walgreens Boots Alliance last year. It has already split the group into five stand-alone companies.

Boots was founded in Nottingham in 1849 by John Boot and has changed hands several times over the past two decades. After merging with Alliance Unichem in 2006, the combined company was acquired by private equity firm KKR in 2007. Walgreens initially took a 45% stake in 2012 before completing a full takeover at the end of 2014.

The chain operates 1,800 stores across the UK and employs about 51,000 people, including roughly 6,000 at its headquarters in Beeston, near Nottingham. This summer it reported revenues of £7.5bn for the year to the end of August 2025, up 3.2%, with pre-tax profit rising 25% to £337m. The company attributed the profit increase to strong demand for weight loss jabs and beauty products. Boots declined to comment.