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Walgreens Boots Alliance ( WBA ) shares are jumping around 5% in premarket trading Tuesday after a report indicated the troubled drugstore chain is nearing a deal with Sycamore Partners to be taken private for around $10 billion.
According to The Wall Street Journal , citing people familiar with the matter, the drugstore company and the private equity firm are targeting a completion of the transaction as soon as Thursday barring a “last-minute snag” that derails the deal. The Journal reported that Sycamore would pay between $11.30 a share and $11.40 a share in cash for Walgreens and the deal would include “contingent value rights that would increase the value if certain targets are later reached.”
The Journal also reported that if the deal passes, Sycamore would keep the core U.S. retail business and sell off or take public the other parts of the company.
Walgreens and Sycamore Partners didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Walgreens shares had been rising this year on previous reports that the private-equity firm was in talks to take the drugstore chain private. The company has been struggling, announcing in October a plan to shutter some 1,200 "underperforming" stores over the next three years and temporarily suspending its quarterly dividend to conserve cash earlier this year.
Walgreens shares have gained 10% this year but have lost half their value in the 12 months through Monday.
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