Boots shapes up for potential London IPO
The owners of Boots have hired advisors to get the high street chemist into shape ahead of a potential London floating which could come as soon as next year.
Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm which owns Boots, have been in talks with advisers in recent weeks on the possibility of floating in the capital.
The Initial Public Offering (IPO) would offer a major boost for the London Stock Exchange, as policymakers attempt to end a recent drought of listings by loosening tax and regulation.
Talks over Boots’ potential London float, first reported by Reuters, are at a preliminary stage but the move would be a win over rival markets in Amsterdam and New York.
Boots takes growing profit
The advisors are also being consulted on how to grow the firm’s presence in the beauty and wellness markets.
Sycamore could yet change course on a London IPO by opting to sell Boots, it has been reported.
Boots, which operates around 1,800 stores, has enjoyed a profit rebound in recent years after it opted to shut a number of branches.
The firm’s pre-tax profit grew by nearly seven times in the year to August 2025, to £215m up from £31m the year before.
The company’s revenue and gross profit grew by three per cent to £192m.
Boots was founded as a family herbal medicine shop in Nottingham in 1849.
The firm has previously been listed in London, as part of Alliance Boots, but became the first ever FTSE 100 company to be bought by a private equity firm in 2007.
Growing number of potential UK IPOs
American pharmacy Walgreens acquired a 45 per cent stake in Boots in 2012 and later made the firm a subsidiary of the Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Last year, Sycamore acquired the British chemist for $10bn and spun it off into a standalone business.
Boots would join bookselling giant Waterstones as one of London’s most exciting upcoming IPOs.
The bookseller has ramped up plans to list in the UK in recent months, after it appointed Rothschild to advise the float and is reportedly on the hunt for a chairman.
Waterstones, owned by activist investor firm Elliott Management, has scaled rapidly in recent years, snapping up rivals Foyles, Hatchards and Blackwell’s under the leadership of James Daunt.