Weston family agrees $8.9bn deal to acquire Boots from Sycamore

Canada's Weston family has agreed to acquire UK pharmacy and healthcare retailer Boots from private equity firm Sycamore Partners and the Pessina family in a deal valued at $8.9bn, according to a report by Reuters. The transaction will be executed through Wittington Investments, the Weston family's holding company, which will take control of Boots' UK and Ireland retail operations, Boots Opticians, No7 Beauty Company, and the retailer's Thailand and franchised businesses. Completion is expected in the first quarter of 2027, at which point Wittington will assume operational control. Toronto-based holding company Fairfax Financial Holdings is partnering with the Westons on the acquisition.

Boots operates more than 1,800 stores and employs over 50,000 people across the UK and Ireland. The Weston family plans to invest in the estate of physical stores, improve the retailer's digital offering, and support further expansion of its healthcare services. Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington, will become chairman of Boots. He said the group saw an opportunity to build on the retailer's established brand and market position.

The deal carries added significance because of the Weston family's existing footprint in UK consumer retail. The British branch of the family is the majority shareholder of Associated British Foods, the owner of Primark.

Sycamore and the Pessina family will retain ownership of The Boots Group's other businesses, including Farmacias Benavides and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland, so the transaction is a carve-out of the Boots retail franchise rather than a sale of the entire group. The transaction follows Sycamore's earlier acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance in a $10bn take-private transaction completed in March 2025, a deal that brought Boots under Sycamore's ownership.