Weston family’s Wittington agrees to buy Boots for £6.7bn

Wittington Investments, the holding company for the Canadian branch of the Weston family, has agreed to buy Boots’ UK and Ireland retail and pharmacy operations and several related businesses in a deal reported at about £6.7 billion. Fairfax Financial is partnering in the acquisition, while Wittington is to have operational control. The transaction has not closed and remains subject to regulatory approval. The agreement covers Boots Opticians, No7 Beauty Company, and Boots’ Thailand and franchised businesses, according to the announced deal terms. The reported price is also given as US$8.9 billion; one account specifies that figure includes debt, so the figures are not directly comparable without further details on the transaction’s valuation basis. Sycamore Partners and the Pessina family are selling the businesses covered by the deal. They are to retain Farmacias Benavides in Mexico and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland in Germany, which are outside the transaction. The parties have not yet completed the transfer of ownership. The agreement would put Boots under the operational control of Wittington, which is associated with the Weston family’s Canadian businesses.