A consortium of Apollo Global Management Inc. and Reliance Industries Ltd. has made a binding offer for Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s international arm, people with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg reported.
The consortium has valued the assets in the range of $7-8 billion, the people said, without specifying the exact bid. Walgreens, based in a suburb of Chicago, put its Boots business on the block in December, seeking a valuation of $8.8 billion, the report said.
The move could put Apollo and Reliance in pole position to buy Boots, after rival suitors started having second thoughts. Their main competitor, a consortium of Britain’s billionaire Issa brothers and TDR Capital, has been considering dropping out of the race due to disagreements over price, Bloomberg News reported in late May.
The deal could see Boots expand into India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, according to The Financial Times, which first reported the joint bid citing people familiar with the matter in April.
Indian billionaire Ambani is the biggest shareholder and chairman of retail-to-energy group Reliance Industries.
