Sycamore Partners is close to selling its pharmacy chain Boots to the Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family for £7bn, according to media reports.
The private equity firm is said to be in advanced talks with the Westons, and a deal could be completed next week.
This development comes shortly after Sycamore unsuccessfully tried 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 bought the wider Walgreens Boots Alliance for $23.7bn in 2025 and split the group into five stand-alone companies.
The UK-based Boots business includes Boots UK and Ireland, Boots opticians, No7 Beauty company and pharmacies in Thailand, Mexico and Germany.
Sycamore also considered a potential initial public offering (IPO) for Boots on the London stock market.
Barely a month ago, Curry's veteran Alex Baldock had taken over as the new Chief Executive Officer of Boots.
Boots – which has 1,800 stores across the UK – employs about 51,000 people.
Founded in Nottingham in 1849 by John Boot, Boots has changed hands several times in the past 20 years.
After a merger with Alliance Unichem in 2006, the combined company was taken over by the private equity firm KKR in 2007, before Walgreens first took a 45% stake in 2012 and then completed a takeover at the end of 2014.
For the Weston family, this would mark a return to the UK high street, having previously owned Selfridges.
The family later sold the department store chain for £4bn in 2022.
In Canada, the Westons own the grocery store Loblaws and the pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart.
