![\"Boots](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-453247390-e1741333662872.jpg\")
\t\tA Boots float would be a major boost for the London Stock Exchange\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tTuesday 21 April 2026 2:57 pm
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tTuesday 21 April 2026 4:12 pm\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tA Boots float would be a major boost for the London Stock Exchange\t<\/p>\n
The owners of Boots have hired advisors to get the high street chemist into shape ahead of a potential London floating which could come as soon as next year.<\/p>\n
Sycamore Partners, the private equity firm which owns Boots, have been in talks with advisers in recent weeks on the possibility of floating in the capital.<\/p>\n
The Initial Public Offering (IPO) would offer a major boost for the London Stock Exchange, as policymakers attempt<\/a> to end a recent drought of listings by loosening tax and regulation.<\/p>\n Talks over Boots\u2019 potential London float, first reported by Reuters<\/a>, are at a preliminary stage but the move would be a win over rival markets in Amsterdam and New York.<\/p>\n Boots takes growing profit<\/p>\n The advisors are also being consulted on how to grow the firm\u2019s presence in the beauty and wellness markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sycamore could yet change course on a London IPO by opting to sell Boots, it has been reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n Boots, which operates around 1,800 stores, has enjoyed a profit rebound<\/a> in recent years after it opted to shut a number of branches.<\/p>\n The firm\u2019s pre-tax profit grew by nearly seven times in the year to August 2025, to \u00a3215m up from \u00a331m the year before.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tLondon IPO market may yet recover in 2026, Peel Hunt says<\/a><\/p>\n The company\u2019s revenue and gross profit grew by three per cent to \u00a3192m.<\/p>\n Boots was founded as a family herbal medicine shop in Nottingham in 1849.<\/p>\n The firm has previously been listed in London, as part of Alliance Boots, but became the first ever FTSE 100 company to be bought by a private equity firm in 2007.<\/p>\n Growing number of potential UK IPOs<\/p>\n American pharmacy Walgreens acquired a 45 per cent stake in Boots in 2012 and later made the firm a subsidiary of the Walgreens Boots Alliance.<\/p>\n Last year, Sycamore acquired the British chemist for $10bn and spun it off into a standalone business.<\/p>\n Boots would join bookselling giant Waterstones as one of London\u2019s most exciting upcoming IPOs.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bookseller has ramped up plans to list in the UK in recent months, after it appointed<\/a> Rothschild to advise the float and is reportedly<\/a> on the hunt for a chairman.<\/p>\n Waterstones, owned by activist investor firm Elliott Management, has scaled rapidly in recent years, snapping up rivals Foyles, Hatchards and Blackwell\u2019s under the leadership of James Daunt.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n