Boots is changing hands for the second time in just over a year. Wittington Investments, the holding company of Canada’s Weston family, has agreed to buy the chain’s UK and Irish business, Boots Opticians, No7 and its franchised operations for US$8.9 billion (£6.7 billion), including debt. The UK stores themselves are company-operated, unlike the brands taking on operators in the UK.
The agreement was announced on 7 October 2026. Boots trades from about 1,800 stores in the UK and Ireland, and the group employs more than 50,000 colleagues. The sellers are Sycamore Partners and the family of Stefano Pessina. Canadian group Fairfax Financial is backing the deal, with Wittington taking operational control at completion.
The sale closes a short chapter. Sycamore bought Boots in August 2025 as part of the US$10 billion takeover of Walgreens Boots Alliance and separated it as a standalone company. Pessina has since stepped down as executive chair and stayed on as a director. “One year ago, we re-established Boots as a standalone company,” said Stefan Kaluzny, managing director of Sycamore Partners. The deal also ends hopes of a stock market listing for Boots in London.
What the deal covers
The sale includes the Boots retail business in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, the No7 Beauty Company, and Boots’ business in Thailand together with its franchised operations. The Thailand business and the franchised operations carry the brand outside the UK and Ireland, although the release does not say in which countries the franchised businesses trade, nor whether they are held through master franchise agreements covering whole territories.
The sellers keep the group’s other interests, the Mexican pharmacy chain Farmacias Benavides and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland. Completion is expected in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals. Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington, will then become chairman of Boots.
Investment plans for the estate
Wittington says it will upgrade stores, improve the online experience and expand Boots’ healthcare services. “We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better through stable long-term ownership,” said Weston.
The family owns Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart in Canada and owned Selfridges until 2022. Alex Baldock, chief executive of Boots, said: “Boots matters. Every day, our colleagues give millions of people longer, healthier and happier lives.” Baldock joined Boots in September 2026 after running Currys.
A health and beauty high street in play
The new owner inherits a business that has been building momentum in beauty, according to Retail Gazette, and which is preparing for peak trading: on the same day as the sale, Boots said it would recruit 6,000 seasonal staff for Christmas. The sale puts one of the largest estates on the UK high street in the hands of a family investor that has said it plans to hold for the long term.
For landlords, suppliers and neighbouring operators, the next markers are the regulatory review, the store investment programme once the deal completes in 2027, and any change to the Boots Opticians network, which is part of the sale, alongside the service-led beauty and wellbeing brands recruiting UK operators competing on the same high street.
Good to know
The US$8.9 billion price includes debt the buyer takes on. The sterling figure of £6.7 billion is the conversion published at the time of the announcement and moves with the exchange rate.
