Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Overview

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

Introduction

The retail drugstore chains Walgreens and Boots, as well as a number of pharmaceutical production and distribution firms, are all owned by the American-British-Swiss holding company Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., which has its corporate headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois. On December 31, 2014, the firm was established after Walgreens acquired the remaining 55% of Alliance Boots. 144.3 million common shares with a fair value of $10.7 billion and $4.9 billion in cash made up the acquisition’s whole cost. In August 2012, Walgreens paid $4.0 billion and 83.4 million common shares for 45% of the business, with the option to buy the remaining shares within three years. Following the completion of the agreements, Walgreens was made a subsidiary of the new corporation. Walgreens Boots Alliance is listed as the 18th largest U.S. company by total revenue on the Fortune 500 list as of 2022.

On December 31, 2014, the company started trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker WBA. General Electric was replaced by Walgreens Boots Alliance on the Dow Jones Industrial Index on June 26, 2018. The business is a part of the Nasdaq-100, S&P 100, and S&P 500 indices as well.

Sales for the corporation increased by 2.5% to $139.5 billion in the 2020 fiscal year, but net income fell to $456 million. By August 31, 2020, the united company has operations in over 25 nations. Previously, Walgreens had only conducted business within the United States and its territories, whereas Alliance Boots had a more global clientele.

Operations

Retail Pharmacy USA

Within Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Retail Pharmacy USA segment, Walgreens and Duane Reade conduct business. Both companies offer a variety of domestic goods, including personal care and cosmetic products, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Through its retail drugstores, Walgreens offers consumers access to consumer goods and services as well as pharmacy, photo, health, and wellness services throughout the United States. In the division as of August 31, 2020, there were 9,021 pharmacies. Among the internet stores that Walgreens operates or has operated are Beauty.com, Drugstore.com, VisionDirect.com, and Walgreens.com.

Walgreens announced its $17.2 billion acquisition of rival Rite Aid on October 27, 2015. However, due to antitrust issues, that agreement was ultimately dropped in lieu of a $5.18 billion agreement, in which Walgreens only acquired half of the Rite Aid sites.

The fourth agreement to buy 1,932 Rite Aid locations for a total of $4.38 billion was approved by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on September 19, 2017, and the deal was finalized in January 2018.

Retail Pharmacy International

The company’s Retail Pharmacy International segment is primarily made up of Boots. In the United Kingdom (UK), the Boots brand has been around for more than 170 years and is a common sight on the country’s main streets. Stores are spread across local neighborhoods as well as well-known high streets and metropolitan centers. The majority of outlets have a pharmacy and concentrate on selling over-the-counter drugs as well as healthcare, personal care, and cosmetic products. In addition to dispensing medicines and providing chlamydia testing and treatment, larger pharmacies often provide a wide range of healthcare services (private service). Numerous larger retailers also provide optometrist services, with Boots Opticians offering eye exams in addition to selling eyeglasses and contact lenses. Users of digital cameras and camera phones can generate prints through Bluetooth, USB, or CD in many establishments, which also provide traditional photo processing and/or an HP image kiosk. While some stores offer a variety of sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, salads, and beverages, larger stores typically offer a range of electrical equipment such hairdryers, curlers, and foot massagers.

There have been Boots locations outside of the UK since 1936. In the 1980s, stores were shut down in nations with as wide a distribution as New Zealand, Canada (see Pharma Plus), and France. By 2022, Ireland and Thailand will have Boots-branded outlets, and the Middle East and Indonesia will have Boots franchise businesses.

Benavides pharmacies in Mexico and Farmacias Ahumada (FASA) in Chile make up the balance of the division.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Finances

Walgreens Boots Alliance announced earnings of US$456 million for the 2020 fiscal year and US$139.5 billion in revenue, an increase of 2.5% from the previous fiscal year. Numbers prior to 2014 only apply to Walgreens. Walgreens Boots Alliance is listed as the 18th largest U.S. company by total revenue on the Fortune 500 list as of 2022.

A run down of the company 2021 key financials are as follows:

• Revenue – $132.5 billion
• Net income – $2.5 billion
• Total assets – $81.3 billion
• Operating Income – $2.3 billion
• Total equity – $23.8 billion

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Products.

Following the first share purchase in 2012, Alliance Boots and Walgreens intended to expand the global presence of Boots’ several brands, including No. 7, Soltan and Botanics, Boots Pharmaceuticals, and Boots Laboratories.

The No. 7 brand, which was introduced in 1935, is best known for the anti-aging beauty serums that were created in Nottingham. The product line includes items made to address the aging issues of particular age groups. Starting in November 2012, No. 7 was made accessible in Walgreens and Duane Reade locations across the US, starting in Los Angeles.

Soltan, which was founded in 1939, sells UVA 5-star suncare protection, a quality of protection created by Boots and now used as the gold standard for suncare items in the UK. But in both 2004 and 2015, Watchdog, a BBC consumer investigative TV program cited on BBC News, as well as the consumer Which? magazine, each conducted an investigation and found that the 5-star rating was unjustified, and skincare professionals deemed it to be much less safe than claimed.

The Botanics line, created in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and first introduced in 1995, incorporates plant extracts in a variety of goods and includes a selection of organic items. The Boots Botanics line is also sold by independent merchants.

Products under the Boots own brand include skincare, medications, healthcare items, and many more. In 2008–2009, Boots Laboratories launched its skincare line for independent pharmacy customers in France and Portugal. It is also available in Spain, Italy, and Germany.

Almus Pharmaceuticals, a 2003-launched generic prescription medicine brand, is currently owned by Boots. It is currently available in five nations and serves as an umbrella brand for many generic drugs at cheaper prices. Almus placed a lot of emphasis on the container design in an effort to decrease dosage errors made by patients and dispensing pharmacists, which can result in either a dangerous accidental overdose or an equally catastrophic under dose.

The “Well at Walgreens” product line is owned by Walgreens.

Walgreens Boots Alliance acquired UK skincare company Liz Earle Naturally Active in 2015 for £140 million (roughly $250 million). The company had been a division of Avon Products since 2010. Liz Earle, the co-founder of Liz Earle Beauty Co. and “one of the biggest names in the beauty industry,” sold the business for an undisclosed sum but continued to work as a consultant for the company that bears her name. She stated on the website of her own Liz Earle Wellbeing magazine that she would continue to do so “alongside my new digital and print publishing venture.” I work on developing new products. Liz Earle made her departure from the company official in 2012.