Apollo, Reliance consortium said to have made binding offer for Boots

A consortium of Apollo Global Management and Reliance Industries has reportedly made a binding offer for Walgreens Boots Alliance's international arm, Boots.

Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that the investor group submitted a bid for the Boots chemist chain this week that’s fully backed by committed financing. Their proposal values Boots at more than £5bn.

The move could put Apollo and Reliance in pole position to buy Boots after rival suitors started having second thoughts. Bloomberg reported last month that their main competitor, a consortium of the billionaire Issa brothers and TDR Capital, has been considering dropping out of the race due to disagreements over price.

It was understood that Walgreens has been seeking a valuation of about £7bn for the chain.

Bloomberg said a winning bidder could be picked as soon as the coming weeks and that Walgreens plans to keep a stake in the business after any deal.