Walgreens Boots Alliance on Tuesday scrapped its plan to sell its European pharmacy chain, Boots, saying no third party was able to make an adequate offer due to the turmoil in the global financial markets.
The company put its Boots business up for sale after announcing a strategic review in January as the second-largest US pharmacy chain renewed its focus on the domestic healthcare.
The decision to retain Boots and No7 Beauty Company has also been supported by their ongoing strong performance, Walgreens said.
The 173-year-old Boots business includes more than 2,200 stores, including pharmacies, health and beauty stores.
The company sold its distribution business for $6.5 billion (€6.16 billion) to US drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen last year.
Walgreens had cut jobs, suspended share repurchases and closed some of its UK-based Boots stores to save costs and revive profit growth that took a major hit as the Covid-19 crisis hammered sales at its stores and pharmacies in 2020. - Reuters
