Walgreens Boots Alliance is dusting down plans on a potential exit from its UK drugstore chain Boots, which could include a listing in London, according to Bloomberg.
The Illinois, US-based retailer has been holding early talks about ways to separate Boots, which could be valued at about £7 billion, Bloomberg said, citing people with knowledge of the deal.
The report, which comes nearly 18 months after a previous sale process was scrapped, said one option being considered was an initial public offering (IPO) in London.
A Boots stock offering would be a big boost to the London stock market, which has been hit by a steady flow of companies opting to list elsewhere.
UK IPO fundraising has fallen more than 50% this year to about US$1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Walgreens is in cost-cutting mode and has brought in new chief executive Tim Wentworth to attempt to turn around the business.
On Monday, Walgreens had its senior unsecured credit rating cut to junk by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the drugstore chain’s high debt relative to earnings.