Back to search
đź”´ PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
Walgreens
pharmacy · Deerfield, IL
PE Firm
Sycamore Partners
Year Acquired
2025
“America's second-largest pharmacy chain sold to the same PE firm that gutted Staples.”
The PE Playbook
- •Sycamore Partners agreed to take Walgreens private for ~$10 billion in 2025 after the stock fell 80% from its 2015 peak
- •Walgreens had already closed 1,200+ stores and was bleeding cash from opioid litigation settlements
- •Sycamore also owns Staples (7,000+ layoffs) and Hot Topic — their playbook is aggressive cost-cutting
- •The deal includes assumption of ~$30 billion in debt and lease obligations
Since the Acquisition
- â–¸Within weeks of Sycamore's $10 billion buyout in August 2025: 500 stores closed and 9,000 employees cut
- ▸Plans to close 1,200 stores over three years — on top of 900 already closed between 2022 and 2024
- â–¸Eliminated six paid holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day) for hourly workers
- ▸Split into five separate companies — a classic PE asset-stripping structure
- â–¸New CEO previously ran Staples for Sycamore, where he oversaw closure of one-third of U.S. stores
- ▸Nearly 50 million Americans already live in 'pharmacy deserts' — Walgreens closures disproportionately hit rural and low-income communities