Reliance Industries Considering To Bid For Walgreens' Boots Global Drugstore Unit

Boots could be valued at about 7 billion pounds ($9.1 billion) in a sale, according to the report

Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries. Image: Getty

New Delhi: Reliance Industries' (RIL's) Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s is considering a possible bid for Anglo-Swiss firm Walgreens Boots Alliance’s international drugstore unit.

Quoting sources, news agency Bloomberg reported that Reliance is in the early stages of exploring the feasibility of an offer for the Boots chain.

Bloomberg News had previously reported that Boots could be valued at about 7 billion pounds ($9.1 billion) in a sale.

According to the report, deliberations are still going on, however there’s no certainty Reliance will decide to pursue an approach for Boots.

Shares of Walgreens, which also owns Duane Reade and Mexico’s Benavides, were up 1.8 per cent at 1:38 pm, valuing the Deerfield, Illinois-based business at almost $39 billion.

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 favorites before abandoning their pursuit.

Walgreens is considering a potential initial public offering of Boots, which runs a chain of roughly 2,200 stores in the UK that includes brands such as No7 Beauty Company, if buyout interest is muted, Bloomberg News reported previously.

Sourecs said that the US-based firm is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks and may decide to keep a minority stake in Boots in any transaction.

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.

One of the richest man in the world, Ambani is in the midst of pivoting his traditionally refining-focused conglomerate toward businesses that will better help him tap India’s billion-plus consumers. He’s also been chasing deals in Europe, including in the telecoms sector.