Canadian billionaire Galen Weston's family nears £7 billion deal to buy Boots

The Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family is in advanced talks to buy Boots, the British pharmacy chain, from private equity firm Sycamore Partners for about £7 billion, or roughly $9.4 billion.

A deal could be reached as soon as next week, The Wall Street Journal first reported. A person familiar with the matter told City AM on Thursday that discussions were continuing. Boots declined to comment.

An agreement would end Sycamore's plans for a possible stock market listing of Boots in London.

The talks have not been smooth. The Westons made an earlier bid that was rejected after they lowered their offer. Negotiations then stalled over the summer, when the conflict in the Middle East and wider economic shocks hit business confidence. Sycamore also held talks with Australian pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare, which pulled out.

Back to British retail

The would-be buyers are the Canadian Westons, led by Galen Weston, chairman and chief executive officer of George Weston Ltd. Through the family's holding companies, they control Loblaw, Canada's largest grocer, which also owns the Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy chain. The family also owns the Holt Renfrew department stores.

They are separate from the British branch of the family, which controls Associated British Foods, the owner of Primark and Twinings, as well as the London department store Fortnum & Mason.

Buying Boots would bring the Canadian Westons back into British retail. In 2022, they sold Selfridges, the London department store chain they had owned for almost two decades, to Thailand's Central Group and Austria's Signa for £4 billion.

The family already runs a business similar to Boots at home. Shoppers Drug Mart, with more than 1,300 stores across Canada, combines pharmacies with beauty, health and convenience products, the same mix that Boots sells on British high streets.

A quick exit for Sycamore

Sycamore has owned Boots for little more than a year. It acquired Walgreens Boots Alliance, the US company that owned the chain, in a take-private deal completed in 2025, in which City AM valued Boots at £18 billion. Sycamore then separated Boots from Walgreens and weighed a London listing before turning to a private sale.

Boots has struggled in recent years. Like many British retailers, it has been squeezed by rising costs and weak consumer spending, and it has closed hundreds of UK stores to cut expenses.

The chain is one of Britain's best-known high street names. John Boot founded the business in Nottingham in 1849, and it now runs pharmacies, opticians and the No7 beauty brand.

A deal would be the Canadian Westons' biggest retail purchase since they exited Selfridges. Both sides have walked away from talks before, and no agreement has been signed.