A Boots listing would be among the biggest in London in years and a major coup for UK markets amid concerns it is slipping down the rankings of global financial hubs.
Last week, travel giant Tui became the latest to signal it was considering leaving the London Stock Exchange, following a series of high-profile exits including building materials company CRH and plumbing equipment supplier Ferguson.
Data from the Financial Conduct Authority published last week showed the number of listings on the London Stock Exchange are at their lowest level in at least six years.
Only 56 companies applied to list their shares on the LSE’s main market between January and November 23 this year. This was well below 2021’s figures, when 125 companies put in submissions.
Walgreens had previously been considering a sale of Boots, but shelved the plan last year citing an “unexpected and dramatic change” in financial markets. Walgreens was in talks with Wall Street buyout fund Apollo, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, CVC and Bain.
Executives at Walgreens are under pressure to strengthen the company’s US focus in recent months by spinning off its international operations. In October, it tapped healthcare industry veteran Tim Wentworth as its new chief executive.
Last month, Walgreens announced it was cutting $1bn of costs from its operations in America. It has also been trimming back the number of stores it has in the UK. As of June, it had 2,200 stores across the UK and Walgreens wants to reduce this to 1,900. It is targetting stores which are too close to each other.
The US healthcare giant posted a $3.1bn net loss for its latest financial year, compared to $5.5bn a year earlier, largely driven by a charge for opioid claims and litigation.
Its performance in the UK was stronger, however, with Boots reporting a 11.7pc retail sales jump for the fourth quarter. Over the year to the end of August, sales were up 12.5pc across Boots.
The retailer said this was driven by an uptick in footfall in shopping centres and travel stores, even with cost of living pressures weighing on customers.
Boots was founded in 1849 by John Boot as a family business, with its first store opening in Nottingham to sell herbal remedies to the poor who could not afford traditional drugs.
Since then, it has led the way for the UK high street, launching the first and last 24-hour pharmacy in 1925 at its Piccadilly Circus store and becoming one of the first to offer self-service stores in 1951. As of June this year, it had 2,200 stores across the UK, but has said it is aiming to cut this down to 1,900 shops by next summer.
