Celesio seeks to deal with KKR on Boots
Germany's Celesio AG, owner of the Lloyds pharmacy chain, is trying to team up with U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. on its 10 billion pounds bid for Alliance Boots Plc, according to a report on Sunday.
Britain's Sunday Express said Celesio, which has also been looking at its own bid for Alliance Boots, had asked KKR to break up the country's biggest retail pharmacy business and sell it up to 1,000 pharmacies.
No one at Celesio was immediately available to comment on the report in the tabloid newspaper.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday that KKR, which is working with Alliance Boots Deputy Chairman Stefano Pessina on its planned offer, had completed due diligence on the bid.
That puts the group in position to meet a three week deadline set by Alliance Boots Chairman Nigel Rudd to formally make their 1,040 pence a share offer by the end of this week.
A spokesman for KKR and Pessina declined to comment on the due diligence completion or the timing of any possible offer.
Alliance Boots opened its books to KKR and Pessina a billionaire with a 15 percent stake in the company in March.
However, KKR and Pessina face possible competition from private equity group Terra Firma and medical charity Wellcome Trust, which announced last week they were at the early stages of considering a counterbid.
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