Walgreens abandons Boots sale amid volatile debt market

Boots has 89 outlets in Ireland employing more than 2,000 people.

US retail giant Walgreens is abandoning the sale of the Boots pharmacy chain in the UK and Ireland citing “unexpected and dramatic change” in the global financial markets since launching the sales process in January.

The American healthcare group had been in talks with a consortium between Reliance Industries and Apollo Global Management over the more than €5.8bn sale of the chain.