Canada's Weston family agrees $8.9bn deal to buy Boots from Sycamore Partners

Boots is changing hands again. Wittington Investments, the holding company of Canada's billionaire Weston family, confirmed Wednesday that it has agreed to buy the High Street pharmacy and beauty chain for $8.9bn (£6.7bn).

The sellers are the U.S. private equity firm Sycamore Partners, the majority owner, and the family of Stefano Pessina. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.

What the Westons are buying

Wittington gets Boots' retail and pharmacy operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, the No7 Beauty Company, and the Thailand and franchise businesses. The chain has about 1,800 stores and roughly 50,000 to 51,000 employees.

In its most recent annual results, Boots reported £7.5bn in sales, up 3.2% on 2024. The company has closed hundreds of branches in recent years as footfall in town and city centres fell.

Pessina is not selling everything. He keeps Boots' interests in the Farmacias Benavides pharmacy chain in Mexico and the German drug distributor Alliance Healthcare Deutschland.

Who is behind the money

Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings is partnering on the deal, but Wittington has operational control. Fairfax chairman and CEO Prem Watsa said the Westons have "grown and developed some of the most successful retail brands in Canada, including in pharmacy and beauty."

The Westons control Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada through Wittington. A family that already runs a major pharmacy business is buying a pharmacy business.

This is a return to UK retail for the Canadian branch of the family, which sold Selfridges for £4bn in 2022. A separate British branch, led by George Weston, holds a majority stake in Primark through Associated British Foods. The whole Weston family ranked fifth on this year's Sunday Times Rich List with a combined fortune of almost £19bn.

A short, crowded ownership history

Sycamore acquired Walgreens Boots Alliance in August 2025, in a roughly $10bn takeover, then split the business into divisions. Pessina has since stepped down as executive chair to become a director.

Pessina took Boots private with KKR in 2007. Since then he has kept a stake under successive owners and merged and demerged the business from Walgreens.

Walgreens put Boots up for sale in 2022 with a suggested price of up to £10bn, then dropped the plan when bidders, including Reliance Industries, Apollo Global Management and TDR Capital, struggled to raise funds. This deal lands well below that figure.

It also closes the door on a flotation. City A.M. reported that the sale ends months of speculation about a return to the London Stock Exchange.

Alex Baldock, the former Currys chief executive, took over as Boots CEO in September. Earlier reports said talks stalled in August after the Westons lowered their offer and Sycamore rejected it. Talks later resumed.

What the new owners say they will do

Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington, will become chairman of Boots. In his statement, he described "a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership, further capital investment, and the renewed operating focus required to serve customers with excellence for generations to come."

He has signalled shop upgrades and an expansion of healthcare services. Boots already offers vaccines, eye tests and hearing tests.

Pessina said he was "delighted to be passing on a thriving Boots to strong and reliable owners who understand the value of its great heritage."

Retail analyst Catherine Shuttleworth, chief executive of Savvy Marketing, said shoppers are unlikely to see much change in the coming months. Over time, she said, they can "expect an improved shopping experience as the new owners invest in the business." She called health and beauty a "massive area for growth."

She was less kind about the ownership churn. The "chopping and changing of owners" had been "an unhelpful distraction," she said.

What is still open

The Westons have not announced store counts, job commitments or a capital spending figure. "Further capital investment" is a promise, not a number.

The deal needs regulatory clearance before the expected first-quarter 2027 close. Until then Sycamore still owns the business, and the Westons must show that the investment Galen Weston has described will materialize on a chain that has been shrinking its store estate.