India’s Reliance Industries and Apollo have become the frontrunners to buy Boots, after the Issas brothers indicated that the asking price was too high.
The British health and beauty chain, which has about 2,200 shops and 550 opticians, has been put up for sale by Walgreens Boots Alliance after the US parent indicated that it wanted to focus on the US market.
The Issa brothers and TDR Capital, who together own EG Group and Asda, had been considering buying Boots as part of a strategy to improve Asda’s pharmacy service.
Bloomberg reported that the Issas were considering pulling out of the process after being asked to raise their offer for Boots.
It is understood that Walgreens is looking for between £6bn and £7bn but the Issas tabled an offer of about £5bn.
