Boots crisis deepens as US owner Walgreens announces plans to axe stores By Emily Hawkins Updated: 17:02 EDT, 27 June 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Boots is facing an increasingly uncertain future as the crisis that is engulfing its American owner deepens. In a bleak update to investors on Wall Street yesterday, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced plans to shut a slew of stores in the US due to woes at its pharmacy business there. Shares in the drugstore giant, which has owned UK high street stalwart Boots since 2014, plunged 25 per cent to a 27-year low.
Earlier this month, Walgreens insisted that ‘all options are on the table’ as it considers whether to sell Boots or float it on the stock market as a stand-alone business. The listing of its shares in London would be a major boost to the City amid concerns over the health of the UK stock market. Closures: In a bleak update to investors on Wall Street yesterday, Boots owner Walgreens Boots Alliance announced plans to shut a slew of stores in the US.
But yesterday’s dismal results underlined the challenge facing Walgreens as it tries to sort out its US business – casting fresh doubt over its plans for Boots. ‘They have to do something at this stage,’ said Jonathan De Mello, boss of the JDM Retail Consultancy. ‘The future is uncertain but I imagine behind the scenes they are preparing for some kind of process.
’ Walgreens did not specify how many of its 8,600 stores in the US would be axed – but it could be up to .
