Private equity giant teams up with India’s largest company in attempt to buy UK pharmacy chain
India’s second-richest man Mukesh Ambani and US buyout firm Apollo Global Management are planning a joint bid for UK high street pharmacy chain Boots, according to people familiar with the matter.
The sale process, in which the UK chain could potentially be valued at between £5bn and £6bn, has been beset by difficulties.
Market turmoil in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made financing a large leveraged buyout more complicated, and two prominent potential bidders, private equity groups Bain Capital and CVC Capital Partners, have dropped out of the process.
The owners of UK supermarket group Asda, brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity group TDR Capital, have also made an initial bid for Boots.
Read more: FT
