M&A

M&A

RIL may bid for Walgreens's $9-B drug store chain Boots

Business Line  

Reliance Industries Ltd is weighing a possible bid for Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.'s international drugstore unit. Boots could be valued at as much as 7 billion pounds (USD 9.1 billion) in a sale. Walgreens kicked off the sale of Boots earlier this year. It's drawn interest from private equity firms, including Apollo Global Management Inc. and TDR Capital. It also attracted Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners, who teamed up and were considered early favourites before abandoning their pursuit. Boots also has smaller operations in Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands and Thailand, as well as an optician business and a suite of private-label beauty and personal-care brands that could be included in a sale.