The £7 billion bid by the Weston family to buy Boots is now at risk of collapsing, raising fresh uncertainty over the future of the pharmacy giant.

Talks between the Westons—one of the world’s richest retail families—and Boots’ private equity owners reached a standstill after the family lowered its offer, which was subsequently rejected.

The Westons revised their bid following Sigma Healthcare’s withdrawal from a rival bid in June, leaving them as the sole suitor for Boots.

Across the UK, Boots operates approximately 1,800 stores. (Image: Getty Images)

Boots takeover talks at risk of collapse

“It isn’t totally dead,” a source close to the matter told The Telegraph.

“It’s a stand-off.

“They tried to knock down the price after realising they were the only show in town.

“They came in with a lower number that was deemed unacceptable.

“The gap isn’t completely insurmountable.

“However, the owners won’t sell at any price.”

A source suggested that economic uncertainty had made the Westons more cautious.

The Westons’ business empire is split between the UK and Canada, with the Canadian side—which owns a controlling stake in Loblaw, Canada’s largest supermarket chain—leading the talks.

Boots’ ownership has been uncertain since Walgreens Boots Alliance was acquired by US private equity firm Sycamore Partners for £18 billion last year.

Following the deal, Boots was separated into a standalone business, prompting expectations of a sale or a return to public markets.

Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina and his family reinvested in the company during the carve-out.

Mr Pessina had previously teamed up with buyout giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to take Boots private in 2007 in what was the largest-ever private equity-led takeover of a UK-listed business at the time.

Before negotiations with the Westons and Sigma Healthcare, Sycamore Partners had considered relisting Boots on the London Stock Exchange after nearly two decades off the market.

It is believed that if sale talks break down, Sycamore will revive plans to float Boots next year.

Walgreens previously explored a sale in 2022, attracting interest from private equity firms including TDR Capital, which owns Asda.

However, those talks collapsed after bids failed to meet expectations.

Since then, Boots has closed hundreds of underperforming UK stores as part of a wider cost-cutting programme.

Investment has been redirected towards its core estate of 400 larger stores, primarily located in town centres and retail parks.

This core network is supported by smaller pharmacies and travel-focused locations.

Across the UK, Boots operates approximately 1,800 stores.

The company also owns beauty brands including No7 and Soap & Glory, and has become an increasingly important provider of NHS services, offering doctor consultations, vaccinations, blood-pressure checks, and specialised treatments for skin and hair loss.

In preparation for a potential public listing, Boots recently appointed Alex Baldock, former chief executive of Currys, as its new CEO, who is set to join the company this autumn.

The British arm of the Weston family controls Associated British Foods—parent company of Primark—and Fortnum & Mason through its Wittington Investments vehicle.

The family previously owned Selfridges for nearly 20 years before selling the department store for £4bn in 2022 to a consortium including Central Group of Thailand and Austrian property giant Signa Holding.

Both Sycamore Partners and Boots have declined to comment.

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“This has all the hallmarks of an adventurous equity play,” wrote Mr Justice Hildyard in his judgment published yesterday after he last month approved the restructuring, which involves the closure of 150 of the books-to-paperclips retailer’s 450 stores.

He added that the group’s turnaround plans “might strike the sceptic as more in the nature of generic aspirations than concrete grounds for confidence in a successful outcome”.

The chain includes numerous former WH Smith branches across Oxfordshire.

These include stores in Cornmarket, Oxford, and in Witney, Abingdon, Chipping Norton, Didcot, Wantage and Banbury. The takeover came into effect a year ago.

READ MORE: Major high street retailer could collapse

“The execution risk is very considerable,” Mr Justice Hildyard said, indicating the £3m valuation of the company – compared with its acquisition value of about £40m only a year before – reflected the potential for high losses as well as high profits.

The retailer, which until recently employed about 5,000 staff, was bought last year by Modella Capital, the private equity firm which is also behind Hobbycraft and owned the UK arm of jewellery retailer Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop until they collapsed earlier this year.

It recently bought Flying Tiger, the Danish retailer known for its cut-price homewares, craft kits and notebooks, which operates about 1,000 stores worldwide.

TG Jones in Oxford (Image: Google Maps)

The original owner of WH Smith continues to operate stores in airports, hospitals and railway stations, so Modella quickly rebranded the high street stores as TG Jones.

Sales quickly fell back after the deal, and Modella had warned it could have to call in administrators if the restructuring plan, which involves writing off debts to suppliers and cutting rent for many landlords, was not approved.

The judge approved the plan despite his scepticism about potential success, because Modella had put up new investment to turn it around.

Alex Willson, the chief executive of TG Jones, said last month that approval of the plan “allows us to move ahead with our turnaround strategy”.

“The plan protects the substantial core of the store estate and makes TG Jones a stronger, more sustainable business,” he said.

Court approval was needed for what is known as a “cram down” scheme, as many classes of creditor who would lose money under the scheme rejected it. The model allows courts, in certain circumstances, to impose a restructuring on dissenting classes of creditors.

Fewer than a third of general creditors, who include card makers and pen brands, agreed to the plan and no landlords owning unwanted stores – where rent will be cut to zero or closed – backed the plan.

Small suppliers, such as toy makers, were set to lose at least half the money owed to them by the former WH Smith high street chain under the restructure.