The billionaire Weston family’s attempt to take over Boots in a £7 billion deal is at risk after they reduced their offer for the pharmacy chain, in a standoff that could determine the next move of Monaco-based billionaire Stefano Pessina, the company’s largest shareholder.
The Westons, who hold business interests across Britain and Canada, had been negotiating with Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm that owns Boots, over a sale of the business. Talks have since stalled after Sycamore rejected the family’s reduced offer, made after a rival bidder withdrew from the race, according to The Telegraph, which first reported the story.
New York-based Sycamore Partners acquired Walgreens Boots Alliance, Boots’ parent company, for $23.7 billion last year, and has been in discussions with several potential buyers since, including Australian pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare, while also weighing a possible London stock market listing for Boots.
Central to the deal is Stefano Pessina, the Italian-born businessman who has lived in Monaco for three decades and holds Monégasque citizenship. Long one of the wealthiest residents of the Principality, with a fortune estimated by Forbes at over $6 billion, Pessina previously held a 17 percent stake in Walgreens Boots Alliance before increasing his holding to nearly 50 percent as part of the Sycamore-led restructuring.
Sources close to the talks say that if the Weston family does not raise its offer closer to the price Pessina is willing to accept, he is expected to walk away from the sale entirely and revert to an earlier plan: a turnaround of the business under incoming Boots chief executive Alex Baldock, the outgoing head of Currys, ahead of a possible stock market listing within the next year or two.
Baldock, who spent eight years leading a transformation of Currys, is expected to take charge of Boots’ retail and pharmacy operations in the UK, Ireland and Thailand, along with Boots Opticians and the No7 beauty brand, though the businesses in Mexico and Germany are not expected to fall under his remit, amid speculation they may not remain part of Boots’ long-term operations.
Boots remains one of Britain’s best-known high street names, operating more than 1,800 UK stores and employing over 50,000 people since its founding by John Boot in Nottingham in 1849. Speaking to The Times in May, Baldock said simply that he enjoys being a chief executive and has no interest in doing anything else.
The company’s latest accounts show UK pre-tax profit rose 25 percent to £337 million in the year to the end of August 2025, with revenue up 3.2 percent to £7.5 billion and comparable retail sales climbing 5.8 percent, growth the company attributed largely to its beauty division, even as it acknowledged intense competition across the health, wellness and beauty sector.
Boots and Sycamore Partners both declined to comment.
Boots takeover talks stall as Weston family cuts offer, leaving Monaco resident Pessina’s plans in the balance