Investing.com– Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) is in talks with a private equity firm over a potential buyout, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, with TD Cowen analysts expressing some uncertainty over the rationale of a potential deal.
TD said that while a buyout of Walgreens was possible, it was unclear what a private equity firm could do to accelerate the firm’s ongoing turnaround plan.
“A PE firm would need to believe it can turn around the US Retail segment at least in line or better than mgmt’s current plan,” TD analysts wrote in a note.
They also suggested a possible buyout price of $12 per share. Walgreens shares rallied nearly 18% on Tuesday to $10.42 after the report.
Walgreens is in talks with private equity firm Sycamore Partners over a potential buyout, the WSJ reported on Tuesday, with a finalized agreement being signed by as soon as early-2025.
A potential deal may also involve the carving out of the Alliance Boots UK business, which Walgreens had acquired in 2015.
Reports of a potential buyout come as Walgreens grapples with sluggish sales in its pharmacy and retail segments, amid heightened competition from ecommerce offerings and weak consumer spending.
The company is in the middle of a turnaround plan to curb costs and improve cashflows.
TD said any private equity buyout would need to be motivated by the belief that the buyer can turn around Walgreen’s core U.S. retail business. The brokerage noted that the potential carving out of Boots was a “curious choice,” given that the business had a strong free cash flow.
TD rates the company as Buy, with a price target of $14.
Walgreen shares have slumped over 60% so far in 2024, as the firm struggled with weak consumer spending, sticky inflation, and lower margins in its pharmacy business.
The company had last attempted to go private in 2019, when it was valued at $55 billion. Walgreens currently holds a market capitalization of about $9 billion.