The acquisition group is partnering with Ambani’s Reliance Industries in an offer that, if successful, will see one of Britain’s best-known retailers expand its presence in India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Both groups will own shares in Boots as part of the plan, said one man, though it is unclear whether their shares will be the same size. Reliance is India’s largest listed company by market capitalization and Ambani is the eighth richest man in the world, according to Forbes. Boots parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance put the company up for sale last December to focus on healthcare in its domestic market. He has set a deadline of May 16 for offers, said one of the people. The sale process, in which the UK chain could potentially be valued at between 5 5 billion and 6 6 billion, has been plagued by difficulties. Market turmoil in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made financing a major leverage acquisition more complicated and two prominent potential bidders, the private equity group Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners, have withdrawn from the process. The owners of the British supermarket group Asda, brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and the private equity group TDR Capital, also submitted an initial offer for Boots. Boots has more than 2,000 stores in the United Kingdom, many of which require investment, and receives about 45 percent of the 6 6 billion annual revenue from services such as prescriptions and vaccinations at the country’s public health service. However, its large fixed-income retirement plan, which is surplus but not sufficient to enable redemption by an insurer, is likely to complicate the sale process. Apollo refused to comment. Reliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ambani’s oil group in the Reliance telecommunications group has made a number of overseas acquisitions, including the British toy store Hamleys, but tends to focus its investments on expanding its domestic operations. Reliance recently invested in healthcare companies, including genetics company Strand Life Sciences, after acquiring a majority stake in pharmaceutical sales company Netmeds in 2020.
