Weston family to acquire U.K. pharmacy chain Boots in $8.9B deal

The Weston family, which owns Canada’s largest grocery chain, Loblaw, and Shoppers Drug Mart, has acquired Boots, the British high street pharmacy and beauty retailer.

The Weston family holding company, Wittington Investments, said Wednesday it is purchasing Boots and its associated businesses for USD $8.9 billion (CAD $ 12.7 billion).

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Along with Boots’ retail operations in the U.K. and Ireland, Wittington will acquire the company’s franchised arm in Thailand as well as its optical division and beauty brand No7.

Wittington’s connection to the U.K. includes having previously owned Selfridges — the high-end department store —from 2003 to 2021. The famous retailer first opened on Oxford Street in London in 1909. Boots was founded in Nottingham 177 years ago by John Boot. Nottingham remains the home of its headquarters.

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Wittington said in a press release that it plans to “continue to invest to build on Boots’ strengths and potential, including upgrading stores, optimizing the online experience and supporting the expansion of healthcare services available to customers.”

“Boots is one of Britain’s most enduring businesses, with a rich heritage, a trusted name and a vital role in everyday life across the UK and Ireland,” Weston said.

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“We have great respect for Boots’ legacy and leading market position. We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership, further capital investment, and the renewed operating focus required to serve customers with excellence for generations to come,” he continued.

Boots operates 1,800 stores across the U.K. and has 50,000 employees.

The investment firm Fairfax, which owns The Sporting Life Group and Sleep Country, is backing the acquisition and said it is “very confident that Wittington will be an excellent steward of the Boots business and a terrific partner.”

The transaction marks the exit of Boots’ long-standing backer, Stefano Pessina and the private equity firm Sycamore Partners, which took control of Boots in August 2025 after acquiring its parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance.

“One year ago, we re-established Boots as a standalone company, allowing its management team and more than 50,000 colleagues to focus solely on their business and customers,” Stefan Kaluzny, managing director of Sycamore Partners, said.

“This transaction is a testament to the work they have done and the incredibly bright future ahead.”

Pessina called the brand “a British institution,” and said it had been a privilege to be closely associated with the brand for the last two decades.

“We are delighted to be passing on a thriving Boots to strong and reliable owners who understand the value of its great heritage,” he said.

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Boots is known for its innovation and enduring own-name brands. Its chemists, Stewart Adams and John Nicholson, invented ibuprofen in Nottingham in 1961, and its popular No7 beauty brand, which sells makeup, cosmetics and skin care products, has been operational for nine decades. It was also the first U.K. chemist chain to introduce self-service stores in 1951.