Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA)

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"Walgreens Explores Option to Sell Boots Pharmacies in U.K., According to Reports. The Stock Rose."

"Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 4.3% on Friday after reports that the company is reviewing options to sell or spin off assets including its Boots drugstore chain in the United Kingdom.

The parent of more than 2,000 Boots pharmacies, Walgreens Boots Alliance is “lining up Goldman Sachs to work on a potential disposal of the U.K.’s biggest and best-known chain of high street chemists,” according a Sky News report. Bloomberg, citing a person familiar with the matter, also reported that the company is exploring a sale of Boots so it can focus on its North American business.

“Walgreens Boots Alliance does not comment on market speculation,” Morry Smulevitz, vice president, corporate communications, said in an email to Barron’s.

The report on the U.K. business comes as Walgreens is spending billions of dollars on its U.S. drugstore operations at the direction of new Chief Executive Officer Roz Brewer. That includes paying $5.2 billion to acquire a controlling stake in Chicago-based VillageMD, a primary-care network, as the pharmacy chain seeks to remodel itself as a healthcare provider post Covid-19."

https://www.barrons.com/articles/walgreens-explores-option-to-sell-boots-pharmacies-in-u-k-according-to-reports-the-stock-rose-51638566875