Walgreens in talks to promote itself to non-public fairness agency Sycamore, WSJ reviews

(Reuters) – Walgreens Boots Alliance is in talks to promote itself to non-public fairness agency Sycamore Companions, the Wall Road Journal reported on Tuesday, citing folks aware of the matter.

The second-largest pharmacy chain operator in the USA beforehand tried to go personal in 2019, however was unsuccessful. On the time, his worth was estimated at greater than $55 billion.

Since then, its pharmacy and retail companies have struggled, and the corporate introduced in October that it might shut 1,200 shops over the subsequent three years.

Walgreens' market worth now stands at about $7.65 billion, with the inventory down 64% this yr. The corporate's shares rose practically 20% after the report was launched.

The pharmacy chain and Sycamore have mentioned a deal that could possibly be reached early subsequent yr, offered negotiations are usually not profitable, the report added.

Walgreens didn’t instantly reply to a Reuters request for remark.

Any deal could be an enormous chew for Sycamore, a New York-based agency specializing in retail and client investments and, extra lately, higher identified for its smaller offers, in line with the report.

Sycamore would seemingly promote components of the enterprise or work with companions, one of many folks mentioned, the WSJ reported.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; modifying by Shailesh Kuber and Krishna Chandra Eluri)