People with knowledge of the matter said that Apollo Global Management Inc. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., a consortium of Reliance Industries Ltd. A binding offer is made for the international branch of .
The investor group this week submitted a bid for the Boots drugstore chain backed by fully committed financing, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. their offer value boots At more than £5 billion ($6.3 billion), one of the people said.
The move could put Apollo and Reliance in pole position to buy Boots after rival suitors started taking second thoughts. His main rival, a consortium of Britain’s billionaire Issa brothers and TDR Capital, is considering pulling out of the race due to a disagreement over price, Bloomberg News reported in late May.
People with knowledge of the matter have said that Walgreens is seeking a valuation of approximately £7 billion for Boots. The business operates a network of over 2,200 stores across the UK, as well as private-label brands such as No7 Beauty Company and operations in other countries.
Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is looking to tap its expertise in emerging markets to drive growth beyond the British high street staple. Ambani, one of India’s richest men, is in the midst of moving his traditionally refinement-focused conglomerate towards businesses that will help him better tap the country’s billion-plus consumers.
People said a winning bidder could be chosen in the coming weeks. According to people, Walgreens plans to keep a stake in the business after a deal.
The discussions are ongoing, and there is no certainty that they will lead to a transaction. Representatives for the union and Walgreens declined to comment.
Boots sales have emerged as a litmus test for dealmaking in the UK as credit markets become increasingly fragile. The easier financing conditions that supported a series of debt-fueled takeovers of British companies in the past year have mostly ended. The banks that financed the private-equity purchase of WM Morrison Supermarkets plc had to sell some of the debt at a steep discount.
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