Walgreens drops amid report one bidder group dropped out of Boots sale process
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Walgreens (NASDAQ:WBA)
fell 2.6% amid a report that a consortium of private equity firms Bain and CVC Capital dropped out of bidding for the Boots U.K. drugstore chain.
The consortium abandoned an offer likely due to price expectations from Walgreens (WBA), according to a Sky News report earlier. Indicative offers valued at more than Â£6bn ($8B) are understood to have been submitted last week. Asda, which is owned by TDR Capital, Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) and Sycamore Capital are said to remain interested in bidding for the Boots chain.

Sky News previously reported several days ago that bidders for Boots were having issues with "huge" pension liabilities guaranteed by Walgreens (WBA).
Bloomberg reported in late January that Walgreens was said to have started the sales process for its Boots chain in the U.K. after confirming it was considering selling the unit in January.
PE firms Carlyle, KKR, Advent and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice may also be considering a bid for the U.K. chain, the Times of London has previously reported.