Struggling healthcare and pharmacy giant Walgreens Boots Alliance is close to sealing a buyout deal with private-equity company Sycamore Partners according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The deal is estimated to be worth $10 billion and would take Walgreens private for the first time in almost a century.
Walgreens and Sycamore Partners are looking to close the agreement by the end of the week with only minor issues left to be ironed out. Under the agreement, Sycamore Partners would initially pay between $11.30 a share and $11.40 a share in cash while including certain escalators that would drive the price up for shareholders if certain financial targets are reached.
Sycamore Partners reportedly plans to split up Walgreens Boots Alliance, keeping its core retail business while selling or taking public other parts of the company.
Bloomberg also reports that several credit lenders are looking to enter the deal by providing $4.5 billion of debt for funding purposes. HPS Investment Partners and Ares Management Corp. are believed to be among the interested parties.
After the news about the Sycamore Partners deal broke out, Walgreens stock rose as much as 8% before sliding down by 3.5% on Wednesday. The stock is trading at $10.66 per share, giving the company a market cap of $9.2 billion. For comparison, the company was valued at $100 billion in 2015.