Boots purchase blots Walgreen’s balance sheet but sales rocket September 30, 2014 American drugstore giant Walgreens yesterday reported a $239m (£147m) fourth-quarter loss caused, mainly, by a huge accounting charge from its purchase of British high street chemists Alliance Boots. The bottom line in the reported quarter was impacted by an $866m non-cash loss on the amendment and exercise of the company’s Alliance Boots call option. However, [...]
Walgreens’ £6bn takeover of Alliance Boots confirmed August 6, 2014 US pharmacy giant Walgreens is set to buy the remaining 55 per cent stake in high street chemist Alliance Boots. The Walgreens board will now ask shareholders to approve the £6bn deal. The company is hoping to cut £600m of costs over the next three years. The combination would establish the world's largest pharmaceutical wholesale [...]
Walgreens stays in the US after £9bn Boots deal August 6, 2014 US pharmacy giant Walgreens yesterday ruled out plans to pursue a controversial tax inversion as part of its £9bn merger with Alliance Boots, amid fears that it would subject it to years of scrutiny from US tax authorities. Walgreens is pressing ahead a £9bn deal to acquire the 55 per cent stake it does not [...]
Walgreen’s earnings grow but questions raised on Boots buyout June 24, 2014 US HIGH street chemists Walgreen, which owns 45 per cent of UK rival Alliance Boots, yesterday announced a 16 per cent jump in quarterly earnings, though it missed Wall Street’s expectations. Walgreen, which paid $6.7bn (£3.95bn) for its share of Boots in 2012, said the results were aided in part by a lower income tax [...]
War of words between Boots boss Stefano Pessina and Labour February 1, 2015 Alliance Boots has been caught in a tit-for-tat row with Labour after boss Stefano Pessina accused the party of being anti-business. Pessina, who is executive chairman of Alliance Boots, which merged with US chemist Walgreens, attacked Labour’s policies for being “not helpful for business, not helpful for the country and in the end, it probably [...]
Alliance Boots boosted by new Walgreen partnership synergies May 15, 2014 HEALTHCARE giant Alliance Boots, owner of the high street Boots stores, has found more synergies than expected so far with American pharmacy chain Walgreen, as it posted a 18.5 per cent rise in underlying profit yesterday. The firm reported sales for the year to March that rose 4.3 per cent to £23.4bn, with £840m in [...]
US hopes Santa rally pushes on – The week ahead on Wall St December 21, 2014 HOUSING, consumer spending and income data will fill the void in company results due in the US this week. Official statistics are due today on existing home sales. Tuesday will see the house price index along with the new homes sales data. Income and consumption data such as durable goods orders, GDP final figures, personal [...]
Boris Johnson backs Boots boss Stefano Pessina for speaking out on Labour business “catastrophe” February 3, 2015 The London Mayor has weighed in on a row between Alliance Boots chairman Stefano Pessina and the Labour party, backing the business boss's decision to air his political views in public. Boris Johnson called Pessina’s outspoken comments “refreshing” after the businessman attacked Labour’s business policies as a “catastrophe”. “I think the head of Boots is [...]
Gibraltar and Guernsey hit back at Ed Miliband’s tax haven blacklist threat February 8, 2015 Labour leader Ed Miliband is under fire from Britain’s overseas territories, after he threatened to put them on a tax haven blacklist. The latest row comes after Miliband wrote to the territories, threatening that they will be listed as tax havens, and consequently incur sanctions, if they fail to compile a list of offshore companies [...]
Ed Balls talks business: Markets alone won’t deliver for the UK, says shadow chancellor February 9, 2015 It's been a bit of a bruising few days for those in the Labour Party charged with finessing its relationship with the UK’s top business leaders. But that won’t stop Ed Balls relishing the prospect of speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual conference tomorrow in front of hundreds of business leaders. [...]