Retail’s last barbarian takes on Walgreens Boots
Behind the Money26 Mar 2025

Retail’s last barbarian takes on Walgreens Boots

Years ago, an ailing company like Walgreens Boots Alliance may have seemed like a prime acquisition target for deal-hungry private equity firms. But many have backed away from retail recently, leaving an opening for groups like Sycamore Partners who are willing to buck the trend. Sycamore announced this month that it would take the global pharmacy business private in a $23.7bn debt and equity deal. The FT’s Due Diligence reporter, Amelia Pollard, explains the well-worn playbook that Sycamore has used on past retail companies, and whether it will work this time with a chain that has its own share of unique problems.


Clips from Bloomberg, CNBC, CBS


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For further reading:

Retail’s last barbarian: the private equity group about to play hardball with Boots

What went wrong after Walgreens bought Boots?

Walgreens bondholders could be winners from its debt-laden buyout

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


Follow Amelia Pollard (@ameliajpollard) on X or (@pollard.bsky.social) on Bluesky. Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.


For more from Amelia and her team, sign up for the Due Diligence newsletter.


Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episoder(318)

Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death

Coming soon from Tech Tonic: Defying death

Investors are spending billions of dollars on novel ways to extend human life through inventive treatments, therapies, and even manipulating our genes. And increasingly, it seems as though anti-ageing...

24 Nov 20251min

What’s the deal with OpenAI's deals?

What’s the deal with OpenAI's deals?

OpenAI is entering a new era. It's restructured to add a for-profit arm to its business and has signed more than a trillion dollars’ worth of deals to secure chips and build out data centres. But thos...

19 Nov 202526min

Pfizer and Novo Nordisk’s $10bn battle over weight-loss drugs

Pfizer and Novo Nordisk’s $10bn battle over weight-loss drugs

Pharma juggernauts Pfizer and Novo Nordisk are struggling in the obesity drug race.The two companies are searching for their next moneymaker, and that search recently spun out into a ferocious, multib...

12 Nov 202526min

The $17bn nuclear start-up without any revenue

The $17bn nuclear start-up without any revenue

Publicly-listed Oklo sits at the intersection of two hot areas for Wall Street: artificial intelligence and energy companies. This year alone, Oklo’s share price has jumped more than 400 per cent. But...

5 Nov 202523min

$12bn of debt: How First Brands Group collapsed

$12bn of debt: How First Brands Group collapsed

Some of the world’s biggest financial institutions are reeling after the collapse of a little-known car parts supplier: First Brands Group. The company filed for bankruptcy last month, and since then,...

29 Okt 202526min

Can the world’s largest listed hedge fund rebound?

Can the world’s largest listed hedge fund rebound?

The world’s largest listed hedge fund manager, Man Group, is at a crossroads. After years of high flying thanks to its innovative quant trading strategies, the company’s hedge fund unit has been falte...

22 Okt 202519min

Introducing Untold: Toxic Legacy

Introducing Untold: Toxic Legacy

Introducing Toxic Legacy, a new season of Untold from the Financial Times. Host Laura Hughes uncovers a lead poisoning epidemic across the UK. You might be living with lead and not know it: the toxin ...

16 Okt 20252min

The meltdown at Nestlé

The meltdown at Nestlé

From KitKat candy bars to Perrier mineral water, Nestlé owns thousands of brands. But recently the world’s largest food and beverage company has severely underperformed its rivals in the wider consume...

15 Okt 202520min

Populært innen Business og økonomi

stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
e24-podden
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-borsmorgen-okonominyhetene
pengepodden-2
finansredaksjonen
tid-er-penger-en-podcast-med-peter-warren
utbytte
rss-markedspuls-2
liberal-halvtime
pengesnakk
livet-pa-veien-med-jan-erik-larssen
morgenkaffen-med-finansavisen
rss-pa-konto
lederpodden
rss-fa-makro
rss-investering-gjort-enkelt
rss-politisk-preik