Boots to bulk up for Amazon battle

THE owner of Boots is circling a US drugs distributor as it launches a fightback against Amazon’s expected push into pharmaceuticals.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, which already owns 26pc of Amerisource Bergen, is weighing up a bid to buy the entire company, which is valued at £14.1bn. But analysts raised questions over whether the deal would be enough to fight off the looming threat from Amazon.

The tech giant last month announced plans to enter the US healthcare market in a tie-up with Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan.

Amazon has also invited hospital executives to its headquarters in Seattle on a number of occasions to find ways of expanding into the healthcare sector. The move is understood to have prompted Walgreens to bolster its partnership with Amerisource Bergen by taking control of the firm.

But analysts queried whether Walgreens’ buyout of Amerisource Bergen would provide it with the ammunition to take on Amazon.

‘We’re currently struggling to see the strategic allure of the combination for Walgreens,’ analysts at investment bank Baird said.