Walgreens Stock Jumps On Potential Go-Private Deal: Retail Sentiment Brightens

Shares of retail pharmacy chain Walgreens ($WBA) were up more than 21% on Tuesday afternoon following a WSJ report the retailer was in talks with private equity firm, Sycamore Partners, for a potential go-private transaction, lifting retail sentiment.

Sycamore Partners and Walgreens Boots Alliance have held talks that could result in a deal that may close early next year, the report added.

Retail sentiment on the stock turned ‘extremely bullish’ (95/100) from ‘neutral’ (47/100)  a day ago. Message volumes moved to the ‘extremely high’ zone. 

One user speculated $25 as an appropriate price for Walgreen’s shares.

According to a recent poll on Stocktwits, a majority of respondents see major changes towards a potential turnaround as imminent at the company. Walgreens’ stock has seen an 84% decline in the past five years.

According to the WSJ report, buyout firm KKR previously made a bid for the company for about $70 billion in 2019.

Sycamore Partners is a New York-based buyout firm with experience in investing in consumer companies.

Walgreens employs about 312,000 people across eight countries including the US. Its consumer brands include Walgreens, Boots, Duane Reade, No7 Beauty Company and Benavides.  It has over 12,500 stores across the U.S., Europe and Latin America.

Walgreens shares are down 60.38% year-to-date.

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