Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA)

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"Exclusive: Walgreens has explored taking drug store chain private - sources"

(Reuters) - Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) has been exploring whether to go private following private equity interest in the U.S drug store chain, which has a market value of more than $55 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

In recent months, Walgreens has held preliminary discussions with some of the world’s largest private equity firms about putting together what would be the biggest ever leveraged buyout, the sources said.

Walgreens has tasked investment bank Evercore Partners Inc (EVR.N) with exploring whether a deal can be put together, the sources said, cautioning that a deal is far from certain.

Walgreens shares rose 8% to $64.12 in New York after Reuters was first to report the news on Tuesday. It later gave back some of those gains and was up about 4%. The stock had lost 28% of its value in the last 12 months, compared to a 13% rise in the S&P 500 Index."