BOOTS bosses were bullish yesterday about the company's prospects as a long-running takeover saga continues to rumble on.

Sales jumped in the second quarter of the year with online sales up more than 60 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.

Despite its roots as a chemist and pharmacist, the firm is now the UK's number one beauty retailer, off the back of a host of brands including celebrity-endorsed ranges like Kylie Jenner's Kylie Cosmetics.

Overall the Walgreens Boots Alliance, of which Boots is a part alongside US operation Walgreens, reported second quarter sales of $33.8bn (£25.7bn).

Boots is set to be spun out and sold in the coming months, with an IPO a fallback option if no takeover offer is found sufficiently attractive.

Private equity giants CVC and Bain were in the running to buy the almost 200-year-old Nottingham chemist but recently pulled out of bids, leaving fel- low US operator Apollo seemingly in pole position for a deal that is expected to be worth around £6bn. Fellow private equity firm Sycamore is also believed to be in the running.

In the UK, the Asda-owning Issa brothers are also believed to be weighing up a substantial bid.

Boots boss Sebastian James said the firm was "uniquely positioned to capture further growth" in a statement yesterday.

Walgreen Boots Alliance chief operating officer

Ornella Barra said last week that floating the chain was not "off the table" if Boots failed to see value from private equity bids.

"At the beginning we had the idea of an IPO, but we didn't start the process because (private equity) offers came in," she said in an interview.

"If the offers from private equity bidders are not in line with our expectations we could come back to an IPO," she continued.

(c) 2022 City A.M., source Newspaper