Terra Firma et al have withdrawn from the bidding for British chemist and drug wholesaler Alliance Boots. In a statement, the consortium of Terra Firma, Wellcome Trust and HBOS said it had decided to withdraw its potential interest and wished “the company and all its
stakeholders well under new ownership”.
Terra Firma’s chances had been terminally undermined following decisive raids on the market by bid rivals KKR and Stefano Pessina, who took their combined holding in AB to over 25% this morning. In fact, Reuters was reporting this afternoon, KKR and Pessina have 29.3% in Alliance Boots.