- Business
- Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) operates as a global pharmacy-led health and wellbeing enterprise that integrates retail pharmacy, healthcare services, and consumer products across multiple segments including U.S. Retail Pharmacy, International operations, and U.S. Healthcare. The company offers prescription and non-prescription drugs; health and wellness products; beauty and personal care items such as skincare, cosmetics, and toiletries; general merchandise including consumables and household goods; pharmacy-related services like dispensing, consultations, immunizations, and specialty pharmacy; optical services; digital platforms for omni-channel access; and own brands including No7, Soltan, Botanics, Boots Pharmaceuticals, Boots Laboratories, Liz Earle, Soap & Glory, NICE!, Finest Nutrition, YourGoodSkin, Well at Walgreens, and Almus generics. It serves millions of customers through approximately 12,500 locations in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and other regions, with key brands encompassing Walgreens and Duane Reade in the U.S.; Boots in the UK, Ireland, Norway, Thailand, the Middle East, and Indonesia; and Benavides in Mexico and Farmacias Ahumada in Chile. Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, the company traces its origins to 1901 through predecessor Walgreens, with the current holding structure formed in 2014 following the combination with Alliance Boots. In a major strategic shift, Sycamore Partners completes the $23.7 billion acquisition of WBA in August 2025 in partnership with Stefano Pessina and his family, taking the company private, delisting it from Nasdaq (formerly ticker 0LSZ.L), and splitting it into standalone entities including Walgreens, The Boots Group, VillageMD, CareCentrix, and Shields Health Solutions to enhance focus on core operations, accelerate turnaround strategies, optimize retail infrastructure, reduce costs through store closures, and explore options like monetizing healthcare assets and potential divestitures.