People walk past a Boots store in London, England, in August. Toronto-based Wittington Investments and Fairfax Financial are acquiring Boots, which has 1,800 stores, from a U.S. private equity fund.Mike Kemp/Getty Images
The Weston family is returning to British retailing by acquiring drug-store chain Boots for US$8.9-billion, including assumed debt, with financial backing from Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. FFH-T
The Toronto-based Weston family’s holding company, Wittington Investments Ltd., is buying the 1,800-store Boots chain from U.S. private equity fund Sycamore Partners, which acquired the British business as part of a US$24-billion leveraged buyout of U.S. drug-store company Walgreens in 2025.
Wittington, which controls Shoppers Drug Mart, is also buying out another billionaire family, headed by former Boots chair Stefano Pessina, who acquired the chain in 2007. Mr. Pessina had retained an ownership stake when he sold the majority of the company to Sycamore.
Toronto-based asset manager Fairfax, led by value investor Prem Watsa, is backing Wittington’s investment by paying US$2.3-billon for a 50-per-cent stake in Boots. Wittington will have operating control of the chain.
Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington and Loblaw, as well as chief executive officer of holding company George Weston Ltd. WN-T, will become the chair of Boots after the acquisition closes.
In the United Kingdom, Boots is the market leader in pharmacies, with 51,000 employees, a strong brand and stores located close to 80 per cent of the population.
“As Canada builds stronger ties around the globe, we are delighted to welcome the UK’s most iconic pharmacy, health, and beauty business into our group of companies,” Mr. Weston said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail.
In the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2025, Boots’ revenue grew by 3.2 per cent to £7.5-billion ($14.1-billion), according to the most recent filing available from the U.K. government’s Companies House. The retailer’s operating profit rose by nearly 30 per cent that year, to £355-million.
But while Boots has a significant presence across Britain, some of its store network has been in need of a refresh. The retailer has closed more than 300 underperforming locations in recent years, and has been investing in updating others. In fiscal year 2025 alone, the company renovated 40 stores and 180 of its in-store cosmetics sections known as “beauty halls.”
Wittington expects to close the Boots acquisition in the first quarter of 2027.
“Once complete, we look forward to Boots both benefiting from, and contributing to our collective expertise in retail, beauty, and the growing role of pharmacists who are making care more accessible in our communities,” Mr. Weston wrote.
Through Wittington, the Weston family controls publicly listed Canadian grocery giant Loblaw Companies Ltd. L-T, parent to Shoppers Drug Mart, and privately holds luxury retailer Holt Renfrew.
Fairfax’s Mr. Watsa said in a press release: “For many years, the Westons have grown and developed some of the most successful retail brands in Canada, including pharmacy and beauty, and we are confident Wittington will be an excellent steward of the Boots business.”
In Canada, Fairfax owns retailers Sporting Life Group and Sleep Country as part of a $110-billion investment portfolio.
In addition to owning Canada’s largest pharmacy chain, the Weston family has long had a strategic focus on health care businesses. Wittington’s venture capital unit has invested in a number of startups in the space.
Shoppers Drug Mart has also invested in building more on-site clinics offering health services such as treatments for minor conditions, travel vaccinations and cholesterol screening.
One area where the Westons’ experience could benefit Boots is around its loyalty strategy, where the new owners are planning to invest.
Boots, like Shoppers, has a massive customer loyalty program with 17 million members. Loblaw’s PC Optimum has 18 million members and is considered Canada’s strongest rewards program.
Loblaw has become very sophisticated in using PC Optimum to drive traffic to its stores, both through promotions that offer bonus points for purchasing on certain days, or that multiply the value of points on redemption.
Because many high-priced prestige cosmetics brands are price-protected, meaning retailers do not have as much flexibility to offer discounts, those redemption events can be a proxy for putting those items on promotion, explained Uwe Stueckmann, a former longtime Loblaw executive.
“That has cemented the prestige business for Shoppers,” Mr. Stueckmann said in an interview with The Globe. “Back in the day, when the department stores were still around, they just didn’t have those kinds of mechanisms and tactics to compete with Shoppers.”
Shoppers Drug Mart has had considerable success expanding the “Beauty Boutique” sections of its stores. That product category brings in higher profit margins than other parts of the stores, and will likely be a priority for the Boots business to find growth.
Loblaw’s loyalty strategy also includes a strong app and digital platform, as well as a partnership with Esso and Mobil that encourages customers to utilize the PC Optimum rewards program more frequently, increasing its value.
“I think many of those principles could be highly relevant to Boots and Advantage Card,” Jim Noteboom, another former executive with Loblaw and Shoppers Drug Mart, wrote in an e-mail to The Globe, referring to the U.K. chain’s loyalty program.
Boots chief executive officer Alex Baldock said in a press release the company plans to deepen its customer relationships under its new owners.
“For all of our social impact and commercial success to-date, the opportunity ahead is even greater,” Mr. Baldock said. “I look forward to making the most of that opportunity and building a world-class Boots.”
Boots owns one of Britain’s leading beauty brands, the No7 Beauty Company, and will continue to invest in building its stable of products.
In 2022, Wittington sold British department store chain Selfridges for approximately $6.9-billion after successfully turning around the business.
Boots was founded in 1849 in Nottingham, in central England, as an herbalist store, selling alternatives to traditional medicines. The founder, John Boot, turned over control to his son, who bult a retailer that dominates high streets across Britain.