Bidders for the U.K.’s drugstore chain Boots are considering tapping private credit for the riskier bits of a debt financing worth around 4 billion pounds ($5.3 billion), people close to the matter said, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dampens banks’ appetite for risk.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. kicked off the sale process for its Boots unit in January. The sale has drawn several possible buyers, including Sycamore Partners, Apollo Global Management, TDR Capital and the Issa brothers, who bought U.K. grocer Asda Group Ltd. last year, the people said, asking not to be named because the talks are private.
