Walgreens to be acquired by Sycamore Partners in an agreement of $ 10 billion

Walgreens Boots Alliance said on Thursday that it had agreed to be acquired by Sycamore Partners, a investment capital company, in an agreement of $ 10 billion which will make the pharmacy chain out of difficulty in the dazzling public procurement.

Walgreens had to face the decline in prescription reimbursements and the drop in sales in its retail locations for years – a trend that has reached a number of large pharmacy chains. After quickly expanding their brick and mortar imprint, pharmacy companies now say that it is more difficult to take advantage of the sale of prescriptions, citing the pressure of the intermediaries.

Careful expenses of consumers who have reached inflation, associated with competition from retail giants like Amazon and Walmart, have also reduced sales of household items ranging from snacks to cleaning supplies.

Walgreens, which has the Duane Reade chain in the New York region and The Boots Pharmacies in Great Britain, has closed stores, with hundreds of others to be closed in the years to come.

The acquisition follows a drop of around 50% in the company’s share price in the past year. Its market value, which culminated at more than $ 100 billion ten years ago, fell below 8 billion dollars before the news of the potential takeover interrupted for the first time at the end of last year. Sycamore agreed to pay $ 11.45 per share, an 8% bonus compared to the closing rate on Thursday.

Signs of chain tension have been clear for months. The company declared a net loss of $ 8.6 billion for the entire year 2024, near the triple of the previous year. But he beat the expectations of profits and income during his last declared quarter, which ended in November.