American hundred-year-old pharmacy Walgreens (WBA.US) bids farewell to the stock market! Private equity giant offers 100 billion U.S. dollars for privatization.

In recent years, American pharmacy giant Walgreens-Boots Alliance (WBA.US) has been deeply embroiled in operational difficulties and has announced its plans to go private and delist. The company stated on Thursday that it has reached an agreement with private equity firm Sycamore Partners to exit the U.S. secondary market with an equity value of approximately $10 billion, compared to its market value of about $9.2 billion at Thursday's closing. This historic deal marks the end of Walgreens' turbulent journey as a publicly traded company since 1927. Walgreens' history dates back to 1901 in Chicago, USA, but in recent years, it has faced longstanding operational challenges due to factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, unfavorable pharmacy reimbursements, weak consumer spending, and difficulties in the healthcare business. According to the agreement, Sycamore will acquire Walgreens for $11.45 per share in cash, representing a premium of about 8% over the stock's Thursday closing price. Shareholders may also receive up to an additional $3 per share by selling primary medical businesses including Village Medical, Summit Health, and CityMD. Walgreens' latest statement indicates that with debts and potential payments, the total value of the transaction could reach up to $23.7 billion. Walgreens and Sycamore expect the acquisition to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Following the announcement, Walgreens' stock price surged more than 5% in after-hours trading on Thursday. This historic deal marks the end of Walgreens' journey as a public company since 1927. As of Thursday morning, the company's stock price had risen by over 15% in 2025, but had still fallen by 48% in the past year and by 70% over three years. CEO Tim Wentworth, who took office in 2023, stated in the announcement, Although our transformation strategy has made progress, substantial value creation requires time and focus, and going private will be more conducive to managing change. Sycamore has successful experience in retail transformation." Stefan Kaluzny, Managing Director of Sycamore, emphasized that the transaction demonstrates strong confidence in Walgreens' "pharmacy-centered, patient and community health improvement" model. Walgreens' headquarters will remain in Chicago. The company currently has over 310,000 employees worldwide and operates 12,500 retail pharmacies in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. It still plans to release its second-quarter financial results on April 8 as scheduled. This pharmacy giant's market value soared above $100 billion in 2015, largely due to its strong healthcare business and expansion plans that were well-received by investors. However, by the end of 2024, faced with increasingly strong competitors like CVS Health Corporation and more chain supermarkets selling medicines, as well as pressure from e-commerce giants like Amazon.com, Walgreens' market value had shrunk to less than $8 billion. Unlike CVS Health Corporation, which diversified its business through health insurance and pharmacy benefit management, Walgreens continued to focus on its diminishing retail pharmacy business. Last October, the company announced plans to close about 1,200 stores over the next three years, including 500 in the 2025 fiscal year. One-quarter of its 8,700 U.S. stores are currently operating at a loss, and the company has already begun scaling back by reducing its stakes in primary medical provider VillageMD. To reverse its decline, Walgreens hired industry veteran Tim Wentworth at the end of 2023 to lead the company. In 2019, private equity giant KKR made a takeover offer of nearly $70 billion, according to reports from the Financial Times and Bloomberg at the time. With Sycamore's comprehensive involvement, this signals that the acquisition value of this century-old American pharmacy chain has significantly decreased compared to its value six years ago, and also marks Walgreens' official departure from the U.S. public trading market stage.