Boots owner Sycamore Partners has turned down an offer from billionaire Weston family putting plans to sell the health and beauty retailer on hold, according to the Times.

The paper reported that the Weston family, which owns Canada’s largest food and drug retailer Loblaw Companies as well as a controlling interest in the food processing and retail giant Associated British Foods, had reduced its offer to purchase Boots.

Sources close to the deal separately told the Telegraph that the Weston family had reduced its offer after the Australian pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare dropped out of a potential $10 billion bid for Boots.

The same source told the paper that the odds of the Westons continuing with the purchase were now “50/50”.

Sycamore Partners acquired Boots in 2025 through the purchase of the retailer’s parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA). At the time, WBA chief executive Tim Wentworth said the new owners had a “strong track record of successful retail turnarounds”.

In May, Boots announced Alex Baldock as its new chief executive. The outgoing chief executive of Currys, Baldock is expected to take over the role from current managing director Anthony Hemmerdinger in the autumn.

Baldock’s appointment was announced just a month after Reuters reported that Boots was working with consultants to prepare the company for an initial public offering (IPO), citing sources close to the matter who added that a sale was also possible.

In its report for the 2024-5 financial year, Boots tracked a 29.6 per cent year-on-year jump in operating profits to £355 million. But sources told the Telegraph that more recent performance by the retailer had been impacted by uncertainty driven by the US war in Iran.

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