Walgreens’ £6bn takeover of Alliance Boots confirmed
US pharmacy giant Walgreens is set to buy the remaining 55 per cent stake in high street chemist Alliance Boots.
The Walgreens board will now ask shareholders to approve the £6bn deal. The company is hoping to cut £600m of costs over the next three years.
The combination would establish the world's largest pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution network, as well as the world's largest buyer of prescription drugs.
"We are excited to move forward with the next important step in becoming a new kind of global health care leader," said Walgreens chief executive Greg Wasson.
The new company will be named "Walgreen Boots Alliance," and will be based in the Chicago area, according to Walgreens. However, Boots will retain its UK headquarters in Nottingham.
Walgreens said the deal would not be used to change its current tax structure, saying that the relocation of its headquarters for such purposes would have presented problems with the Internal Revenue Service.
Wasson, who will become the new chief executive of the company, said: "We took into account all factors, including that we could not arrive at a structure that provided the company and our board with the requisite level of confidence that a transaction of this significance would need to withstand extensive IRS review and scrutiny."