US firm confirms full takeover of Boots

US retailer Walgreens is to take full control of Boots the Chemist owner Alliance Boots after announcing a €11.3bn cash and shares deal to swallow up the 55% of the company it does not already own.

The new group, Walgreen Boots Alliance, will be based in Chicago but the headquarters of Boots will remain in Nottingham, England.

Walgreens said a programme of cost-cutting would target one billion US dollars (€747m) in savings by 2017.

Alliance Boots employs more than 108,000 staff in more than 25 countries, including 70,000 in the UK, where Boots has nearly 2,500 stores.