Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani, has encountered a setback in its attempt to acquire UK-based chemist and drugstore chain Boots, as Walgreens Boots Alliance, the American retail major, has decided to withdraw from the sale talks, reported the Hindu Businessline.
Walgreens, which had been seeking a buyer for Boots, stated that none of the received bids adequately reflected the potential value of the drugstore chain.
Previous reports on June 9 revealed that Apollo Global Management and Reliance Industries had submitted a binding bid of approximately US$7.3 billion for the acquisition of Boots. Walgreens had put the business up for sale in December, with a valuation expectation of around US$8.9 billion.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Walgreens explained, “Due to the severe impact of market instability on financing availability, no third party has been able to make an offer that adequately reflects the high potential value of Boots and No7 Beauty Company. Consequently, WBA has decided that it is in the best interests of shareholders to focus on further growth and profitability of the two businesses.”
Walgreens also expressed that it had engaged in productive discussions with various parties and received significant interest from prospective buyers. However, unforeseen and drastic changes in the global financial markets have occurred since the initiation of the sale process, leading to this outcome.
The specific locations of the closures have not been confirmed by Boots, but it is believed that the affected shops will be those in close proximity to another site.
In its quarterly results, Boots stated that it will be consolidating a number of stores situated near each other over the next year.
This strategic move will allow Boots to allocate its team members more efficiently and focus investment on individual stores, aiming to consistently deliver an excellent and modernised service.
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Boots, which employs over 52,000 team members, has assured that these store closures will not result in any redundancies.
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