What: The Canadian Weston family, which sold Selfridges for £4bn in 2022, is reportedly set to return to the UK high street by buying Boots from Sycamore Partners for $9bn (£7bn).

Why it is important: The reported $9bn price sits $1bn below the valuation of the failed Sigma Healthcare deal, which gives a market reading of what buyers will pay for a pharmacy and beauty retailer after a private equity break-up.

The private equity owner of Boots, Sycamore Partners, is reportedly closing in on a sale of the pharmacy chain to the Canadian branch of the billionaire Weston family for $9bn (£7bn). The Financial Times reports that talks are advanced and that a deal could be completed as soon as next week. Sycamore bought the wider Walgreens Boots Alliance for $23.7bn in 2025 and has since split it into five stand-alone companies. Its attempt to sell Boots to Australia's Sigma Healthcare this summer, at a valuation of $10bn, failed.

The Westons are known in Canada for Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Mart, and previously owned Selfridges, which they sold for £4bn in 2022. The UK branch of the family holds a majority stake in Primark through Associated British Foods.

Boots was founded in Nottingham in 1849 and has changed hands several times since 2006, including a takeover by KKR in 2007 and by Walgreens in 2014. It has 1,800 UK stores and about 51,000 employees. Revenues rose 3.2% to £7.5bn, with pre-tax profit up 25% to £337m, helped by demand for weight loss jabs and beauty products. Boots declined to comment.

IADS Notes: The reported sale of Boots to the Weston family, who sold Selfridges in 2022, comes as ownership models and category mix are being reassessed across department stores. Selfridges recorded an 88% rise in operating profit to £79.7m on revenue up 7% to £830.8m, helped by a longer trading period (Retail Week, September 2026). On ownership, a comparison of private equity backed and family-led retailers tied the Saks Global bankruptcy to debt-fuelled expansion, while family-led groups such as Dillard's and Von Maur proved resilient (The Robin Report, March 2026). In Canada, the liquidation of Hudson's Bay Company was linked in part to a private equity leveraged buyout that left nearly CAD $1bn in debt (The Economist, December 2025). On category, Galeries Lafayette Haussmann opened a giant parapharmacy to capture health and wellness demand (LSA Conso, February 2026), while Parisian department stores are rebuilding beauty around curation and experience to compete with specialty retailers and platforms such as Amazon and TikTok Shop (BoF, March 2026).

Boots owner 'closing in on sale to Canada's Weston family for $9bn'