Sigma Healthcare—which counts Australian billionaire brothers Jack and Sam Gance and their business partner Mario Verrochi as its biggest shareholders—has withdrawn its interest to buy U.K. health and beauty retailer The Boots Group.
A sign above the entrance to a Boots store in London, UK, on Wednesday, June 10, 2026. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
© 2026 Bloomberg Finance LP
“Sigma engaged in the Boots sale process given the potentially unique opportunity it presented to accelerate its UK expansion through the market-leading Boots brand and large footprint,” the Melbourne-based company said in filing to the Australian bourse. “However, following its preliminary review the company has concluded that such an acquisition would not currently meet its strategic and capital investment objectives.”
The potential sale of Boots in a deal that could be valued at over $10 billion has attracted bidders including Sigma Healthcare and the Weston family, the controlling shareholder of Canada’s largest supermarket chain, Loblaw, was first reported by the Financial Times last week.
Sigma Healthcare has been seeking to expand in the U.K. and had last month partnered with British pharmacy chain Greenlight Healthcare to rollout Chemist Warehouse-branded stores in London.
In February 2025, Chemist Warehouse merged with Sigma Healthcare, creating a pharmacy giant valued at more than $22 billion. The company is now Australia’s largest pharmacy chain, with over 950 stores across China, Dubai, Ireland, and New Zealand.
Australian billionaire brothers Jack and Sam Gance started their first drugstore in 1972 and partnered with Verrochi to establish the Chemist Warehouse pharmacy chain in 1995. With a net real-time net worth of $5.6 billion, Verrochi is among Australia’s richest tycoons, according to Forbes’ real-time data. Jack Gance has a real-time net worth of $3.5 billion, while his younger brother Sam has a real-time net worth of $3.2 billion.
This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
Want to see more Forbes articles on your feed? Tap here to make Forbes Australia a preferred source on Google.
Look back on the week that was with hand-picked articles from Australia and around the world. Sign up to the Forbes Australia newsletter here or become a member here.
