British drugstore chain Boots to come under Canadian ownership

The Canadian billionaire Weston family, former owners of the luxury department store chain Selfridges, is acquiring the British drugstore chain Boots from the investment fund Sycamore Partners. This brings an end to several months of uncertainty.

Iconic retail chain

Wittington Investments, the Weston family’s holding company, is paying $8.9 billion (€7.95) for the acquisition of Boots’ British and Irish retail operations, the optical chain, the No7 beauty brand, and a franchise division in Thailand. The fund also owns the Loblaws supermarket chain and the Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy chain in Canada. The transaction is still subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.

Boots is an icon of British high streets: the chain operates 1,800 stores in the United Kingdom and employs 50,000 people there. In 2025, the retailer generated revenue of 7.5 billion pounds (8.85 billion euros), representing 3.2% growth. However, the chain has closed more than 300 stores in recent years.

The confirmation of this transaction brings an end to several months of uncertainty, after owner Sycamore—which initially had plans to take Boots public— rejected an offer from the Weston family as recently as August. The Weston family sold the Selfridges department store chain in 2022 and, through a British branch, remains the majority shareholder of Associated British Foods, owner of Primark.