Walgreens to Be Acquired by Sycamore Partners in $10 Billion Deal
Walgreens Boots Alliance said on Thursday that it had agreed to be acquired by Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm, in a $10 billion deal that will take the struggling pharmacy chain out of the glare of public markets.Walgreens has faced declining prescription reimbursements and falling sales at its retail locations for years — a trend that has hit a number of major pharmacy chains.After rapidly expanding their brick-and-mortar footprint, pharmacy companies now say it’s harder to turn a profit from selling prescriptions, citing pressure from middlemen.Cautious spending from consumers who have been grappling with inflation, coupled with competition from retail behemoths like Amazon and Walmart, has also dampened pharmacies’ sales of household items ranging from snacks to cleaning supplies.Walgreens, which owns the Duane Reade chain in the New York City area and the Boots pharmacies in Britain, has been closing stores, with hundreds more set to be shuttered in the years ahead.The buyout follows a roughly 50 percent drop in the company’s share price in the past year.
Its market value, which peaked at over $100 billion a decade ago, dropped below $8 billion before news of the potential takeover first broke late last year.Sycamore has agreed to pay $11.45 per share, an 8 percent premium from Thursday’s closing share price.Signs of strain at the chain have been clear for months.
The company reported a net loss of $8.6 billion for the entire 2024 fiscal year, nearly triple the previous year’s loss.But it beat earnings and revenue expectations in its most recent reported quarter, which ended in November.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
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