Walgreens Boots Alliance

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.

Company type	Public (until 2025), then private
Industry	Pharmacy, Retail, Healthcare
Founded	December 31, 2014 (2014-12-31) in Deerfield, Illinois, United States
Headquarters	Deerfield , United States
Area served	United States and international (9 countries as of 2022)
Products	Pharmacy services, retail health and wellness products, beauty products, household essentials
Number of employees	312,000 (2024)

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) was a U.S.-based multinational holding corporation with its headquarters situated in Deerfield, Illinois. The company was established on December 31, 2014, following Walgreens’ acquisition of the remaining 55% ownership in Alliance Boots for $4.9 billion in cash plus 144.3 million shares valued at $10.7 billion. Previously, in 2012, Walgreens had acquired a 45% stake in Alliance Boots for $4.0 billion and 83.4 million shares. After this transaction, Walgreens became a subsidiary under the newly formed entity. By 2022, Walgreens Boots Alliance secured the #18 position on the Fortune 500 ranking based on total revenue.

For the fiscal year 2022, the company recorded sales amounting to $132.7 billion, reflecting a modest growth compared to the prior year, with net income increasing to $4.3 billion. As of August 31, 2022, its operations extended across nine countries. Walgreens primarily conducted business within the United States, whereas Alliance Boots maintained a broader international footprint.

At its inception, the company’s shares were listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker WBA. On June 26, 2018, it replaced General Electric in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Later, on February 26, 2024, Amazon took over Walgreens Boots Alliance’s position on the Dow Jones Index. The company remained part of the S&P 500 until 2025 and was included in the Nasdaq-100 index until 2024.

In March 2025, Walgreens Boots Alliance consented to a privatization deal with private equity firm Sycamore Partners valued at $10 billion. The acquisition finalized in August 2025 resulted in splitting the corporation into five separate businesses: Walgreens, The Boots Group, VillageMD, CareCentrix, and Shields Health Solutions.

Retail Pharmacy USA

Within Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Retail Pharmacy USA segment operate both Walgreens and Duane Reade stores. This division offers prescription medications as well as over-the-counter drugs along with personal care items, beauty products, and household essentials. Walgreens delivers pharmacy services alongside photo processing and health and wellness programs through its U.S.-based drugstore network. As of August 31, 2020, this division encompassed a total of 9,021 retail locations.

Walgreens maintains stores across all 50 states in addition to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

On October 27, 2015, Walgreens announced plans to acquire Rite Aid for $17.2 billion; however, regulatory antitrust challenges led to a scaled-back agreement valued at $5.18 billion involving only half of Rite Aid’s store portfolio. In September 2017, the Federal Trade Commission approved Walgreens’ acquisition of 1,932 Rite Aid outlets for $4.38 billion—a transaction completed by January 2018.

By June 2024, Walgreens disclosed that merely three-quarters of its approximately 8,600 U.S. stores were generating profits and announced intentions to shut down more than 2,000 locations by 2027. This development contributed to a drop exceeding 55% in Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) stock value between January and July of that year.

Retail Pharmacy International

The Retail Pharmacy International division is anchored by Boots, a well-established UK brand with over 170 years of history serving high street consumers. Boots is widely recognized for its offerings in healthcare products, personal care items, and cosmetics. Most Boots outlets feature pharmacies providing prescription fulfillment alongside over-the-counter medicines; larger stores often include health services such as chlamydia screening and optician care through Boots Opticians.

Numerous locations also offer photo printing services via digital kiosks; larger branches stock electrical appliances including hairdryers and foot massagers. Selected stores carry food and beverage options as well.

Boots has operated internationally since 1936 but withdrew from markets such as New Zealand, Canada, and France during the 1980s. As of 2022, Boots continues to operate stores in Ireland, Norway, Thailand as well as franchise agreements across the Middle East and Indonesia.

Additionally, this division incorporates Farmacias Benavides in Mexico along with Farmacias Ahumada (FASA) located in Chile.

Previous operations

Following the purchase of Alliance Boots, the company incorporated a pharmaceutical distribution segment that provided twice-daily deliveries to more than 16,500 locations throughout the UK. Globally, operating under the Alliance Healthcare name, it distributed medicines and health-related products annually to over 115,000 pharmacies, medical practitioners, health clinics, and hospitals from 306 distribution hubs spanning 11 countries.

In June 2021, Walgreens Boots Alliance divested most of Alliance Healthcare’s wholesale operations to AmerisourceBergen for a cash sum of $6.275 billion.

Financial performance

During the 2020 fiscal year, Walgreens Boots Alliance posted a net profit of US$456 million on revenues totaling US$139.5 billion, reflecting a 2.5% growth compared to the previous year. Figures prior to 2014 pertain exclusively to Walgreens. By 2022, the company achieved the #18 position on the Fortune 500 list based on total revenue.

Year	Revenue (million USD)	Net Income (million USD)	Total Assets (million USD)	Share Price (USD)	Number of Employees	Store Count
2005	42,202	1,560	14,609	36.34	179,000	4,950
2006	47,409	1,751	17,131	36.17	195,000	5,461
2007	53,762	2,041	19,314	35.64	226,000	5,997
2008	59,034	2,157	22,410	26.93	237,000	6,934
2009	63,335	2,006	25,142	26.59	238,000	7,496
2010	67,420	2,091	26,275	28.40	244,000	8,046
2011	72,184	2,714	27,454	33.76	247,000	8,210
2012	71,633	2,127	33,462	30.37	240,000	8,385
2013	72,217	2,548	35,481	45.76	248,000	8,582
2014	76,392	1,932	37,250	61.68	251,000	8,309
2015	103,444	4,220	68,782	80.08	360,000	12,755
2016	117,351	4,173	72,688	77.52	360,000	12,848
2017	118,214	4,078	66,009	76.94	345,000	12,822
2018	131,537	assets=68,124 |price=68.03 |employees=354K |stores=14.3K |- 2019 |136866 |3,982 |67,596 |60.08 |342K |13.8K |- 2020 |139537 |456 |87174 |37.22 |331K |13.4K |- 2021 |132509 |2,542 |81285 |52.16 |315K |13K |- 2022 |132703 |4,337 |90124 |35.06 |325K |13K |- 2023 |139081 |-3,080 |96628 ||331K |13.5K |- 2024 |147658 |-8,636 |81037 ||312K |12.7K |

Brand portfolio

Boots features several exclusive brands such as No. 7, Soltan and Botanics; these brands expanded internationally after Walgreens' investment in 2012.

Established in 1935 in Nottingham and designed for age-specific anti-aging skincare solutions, No. 7 became available in US Walgreens stores starting in 2012.

Soltan, launched in 1939 with Boots setting the UK’s UVA five-star protection benchmark; nonetheless consumer reports have questioned its SPF efficacy claims.

The Botanics line began in 1995 featuring botanical-based products developed in partnership with Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and includes certified organic items sold through various retailers.

Since 2008/09 Boots Laboratories has been providing skincare and health products to independent pharmacies across Europe.

Boots also owns Almus Pharmaceuticals, a generic prescription medication brand introduced in 2003 and distributed in five countries with packaging designed to minimize dispensing mistakes.

Walgreens promotes its proprietary "Well at Walgreens" product range.

In 2015 Walgreens Boots Alliance acquired the UK skincare brand Liz Earle Naturally Active from Avon Products for £140 million; Liz Earle continued as brand ambassador and advisor during the transition before departing the company in 2012.