When running his family’s grocery empire, billionaire Galen Weston’s biggest bet was an expansion into pharmacies. That chain has become the Canadian company’s most profitable business.
Now Weston is looking to do it again in the UK.
On Wednesday, his family holding company Wittington Investments announced it’s teaming up with another Canadian billionaire to buy the storied British pharmacy chain Boots for $8.9 billion.
Read More: Boots Sold for $8.9 Billion as Canada’s Westons Re-Enter UK
The success of Weston’s Canadian pharmacy business has come in part from selling higher-margin beauty products, and more recently on building a dominant position in the complementary and booming market for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. Boots may offer scope to apply a similar playbook, while giving Weston a chance to get back on the frontlines of retail as he assumes the chairmanship of the UK business.
“Given the operational know-how they’ve demonstrated in Canada, if they’re able to effectively translate it across the pond, we should see benefits at Boots,” said Brett Husslein, an equity analyst with Morningstar Inc. who covers Weston’s publicly traded companies.
With a net worth of $21.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , Weston is one of Canada’s richest people. He also made himself the face of Canadian grocery chain Loblaw Cos. during his nearly two decades at the helm, often appearing in television ads talking up in-house brand President’s Choice.
But that public profile also helped make Weston the face of food inflation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2023, he was called before a parliamentary committee on the subject. A month later, he handed the roles of president and chief executive officer at Loblaw to an outsider, maintaining ultimate oversight of the business through his family’s holding companies.
There will be no direct links between Boots and Loblaw Cos., although lessons learned across the Atlantic may still apply.
GLP-1 Opportunity
The strategy Weston kicked off with the 2014 acquisition of Canada’s biggest pharmacy chain, Shoppers Drug Mart, continues to pay off. Weston renovated the stores to place sleek beauty boutiques at the front, ensuring customers had to pass these profitable items first. He also added a selection of groceries to create another draw. Loblaw’s stock has gained more than 500% since the acquisition was announced.
More recently, Shoppers Drug Mart has become the leading dispenser of weight-loss drugs in Canada. The chain is now looking to grow its share of the booming market, while expanding into other complex specialty drugs that often require more direct care and supervision from a pharmacist.
Loblaw’s current CEO, Per Bank, said last month that Shoppers Drug Mart is the company’s most profitable business, and it’s planning to expand its 1,400-strong store network by about 35 locations per year.
Boots has some similarities to Shoppers — a drugstore chain with a strong market position that passed through multiple owners, including private equity hands. It’s been a fixture of the British high street for ages, selling beauty and personal care items as well as healthcare services including vaccinations and weight-loss treatments.
In recent years, Boots has built on the success of its No7 beauty and skincare products and last year launched more than 50 new beauty brands. With more than 1,800 locations, it’s also in the midst of its own costly store renovation push.
“We have great respect for Boots’ legacy and leading market position,” Weston said in a statement announcing the transaction. “We see a meaningful opportunity to make a great business even better.”
The Westons and Fairfax Financial Holdings, controlled by Toronto-based billionaire Prem Watsa, are purchasing the chain from private equity firm Sycamore Partners and partner Stefano Pessina.
Read More: Boots Dealmaker Pessina Still Has the Touch: Andrea Felsted ·
In the press release announcing the deal, Weston promised long-term, stable ownership for the chain and pledged to upgrade stores, improve online sales and expand the range of healthcare services Boots offers. A spokesperson for Wittington declined to offer further comment on its strategy for Boots.
Weston’s family has a lengthy history in the UK, where his father, also named Galen, bought the storied department store Selfridges in 2003.
The elder Weston and his wife were friends of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and when the Irish Republican Army made a failed attempt to kidnap him in 1983, he was miles away playing polo with the now-King Charles. The elder Galen Weston died in 2021 and his wife died last year.
The family sold their European department store business in 2021 for a reported £4 billion ($5.3 billion).
Though the Boots transaction marks the Canadian Westons’ return to the UK, there is another branch of the family which never left. That arm has its own high street fixture, Primark, through Associated British Foods.