Fairfax and Wittington Agree to Buy Boots for About $8.9 Billion

On October 7, 2026, Fairfax Financial Holdings and Wittington Investments, the Canadian holding company of the Weston family, announced an agreement to acquire Boots, the UK pharmacy and beauty retailer. The price is about US$8.9 billion, including assumed debt. The package includes the No7 Beauty Company, so a beauty brand changes hands along with the retail chain.

For readers who follow beauty brands, the deal matters because the ownership of a large beauty retailer and one of its own brands is changing together. The October 7 Fairfax release says Wittington is the controlling shareholder of George Weston Limited and, through it, Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s largest grocery retailer and owner of Shoppers Drug Mart. The buyers say they plan to combine long-term ownership with new capital investment and a renewed focus on operations. This account is current as of October 9, 2026. The deal has not closed, and the sources reviewed differ on some details, set out below.

Who will own and run Boots

Fairfax would own 50 percent of Boots’ equity after closing. Its equity commitment is up to about US$2.3 billion, which it may provide directly or through an affiliate. Wittington would hold operational control, and Galen Weston would become chair. The release does not say who owns the other half of the equity.

The release therefore separates equity from control. Fairfax’s share is the equity stake, and Wittington’s role is operational control. The sources reviewed describe no other terms between the two buyers.

Prem Watsa, Fairfax’s chairman and chief executive, said Wittington would be an excellent steward of the business. The buyers cite Boots’ heritage and market position. Fairfax is described as bringing a record of long-term investing in retail brands, and the buyers describe their plan as pairing that steady ownership with new capital and a renewed focus on operations.

Ownership split
Fairfax would own 50 percent of Boots’ equity after closing, with an equity commitment of up to about US$2.3 billion, according to the Fairfax release dated October 7, 2026.

What is included and what stays with the seller

The Fairfax release lists Boots retail operations in the UK and Ireland, Boots Opticians, the No7 Beauty Company, and Boots’ Thailand and franchised businesses as part of the transaction. It names The Boots Group as the seller. The No7 Beauty Company is the only beauty business the release names.

Two businesses are excluded. The Boots Group’s interests in Farmacias Benavides and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland will stay with its current owner. Global Cosmetics News reports the same price of about US$8.9 billion, including assumed debt, and describes the deal as an agreed acquisition.

The package spans pharmacy and optical retail in the UK and Ireland, a beauty company, and businesses in Thailand and through franchise arrangements. Because the release lists them as one transaction, the price covers the whole group rather than the beauty business alone.

Where the earlier reports differ

A Global Cosmetics News article dated October 2, 2026 reported that Sycamore Partners, the private equity owner of Walgreens, was reportedly selling Boots. It put the valuation close to US$9 billion, including debt, and said the buyer was the Canadian arm of the Weston family. The article said Sycamore was reportedly nearing a deal, that completion could come within weeks, and that talks could still fall through.

The October 7 announcement differs in three ways. It names The Boots Group as seller and does not mention Sycamore. Its price is about US$8.9 billion rather than close to US$9 billion. It gives closing in the first quarter of 2027, not within weeks. The sources reviewed do not explain how The Boots Group relates to Sycamore, so that link is unconfirmed.

The main change since October 2 is the stage of the deal. The earlier report described talks still under way, while the October 7 release describes an announced agreement with a stated closing period.

The package includes the No7 Beauty Company, so a beauty brand changes hands along with the retail chain.

What happens next

The release says closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, subject to the usual closing conditions. The sources read do not describe the approvals the deal requires, and the release does not identify the owner of the remaining equity.

As of October 9, 2026, the transaction has been announced but has not closed. Any change to the terms, the seller or the timetable will need to be checked against the buyers’ own releases.

For readers tracking the beauty side, the sources give no separate plan for the No7 Beauty Company. The stated plans apply to the business as a whole.

Photo: Dorsetdude · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons