Quick Take — Sycamore completes acquisition of Walgreens Boots Alliance: the end of Stefano Pessina’s dream

The private equity firm acquired assets in transactions valued at up to $23.7bn. New York-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners completed the acquisition of retail pharmacy company Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc(WBA).

WBA is an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader serving millions of customers and patients every day. With approximately 12,500 locations in the US, Europe, and Latin America, its consumer brands include Walgreens, Boots, Duane Reade, No7 Beauty Company, and Benavides.

WBA, under the Boots brand , also has a presence in Milan and was a supplier to Esselunga (beauty products).

Covid- 19, Amazon and Walmart contributed to its sale to Sycamore.

Quick Take — Half a million foreign workers in Italy in three years, but the number does not solve the delays in the camps

“…The main agricultural associations, from Coldiretti to Confagricoltura, express satisfaction with the three-year planning, but remain critical on the operational front.“To date, few workers have entered Italy after the click day in February, while harvesting operations have already begun months ago,” reads a note from Confagricoltura. Coldiretti calls for the possibility of submitting applications at any time of the year, with the support of the trade associations, to truly respond to seasonal needs. Because the point, they all say, is not how many workers arrive, but when’.

We were already talking about this in 2020, at the time of Covid-19, in “ The future of the Italian agri-food chain must be built together. With Mario Gasbarrino

US: inflation-weary consumers stock up on discount stores

As in France and Italy, inflation due to Covid – 19 in the US has left deep traces that have favoured the development of discount formulas, albeit with very different approaches and sales methods. US consumers are also experiencing the political uncertainty sown by the tariffs wanted by Donald Trump. Box stores (wholesale discounters) are depopulating in the US, driven by concerns about the high cost of living. Chris Nichols , CEO of Sam’s Club (Walmart’s box store chain) predicts ‘difficult times’ for the US economy

Quick Take — US: inflation-fatigued consumers stock up on discount stores (the ‘box stores’ where you enter with a subscription and membership card)

The Financial Times headline I took my cue from was: ‘US consumers, tired of inflation, queue up for toilet paper and cheap Bordeaux wine’:

“… inflation… has left consumer prices in the US 26% higher than in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Consumer surveys show continued concern about inflation as the US imposes tariffs on trading partners.

“In good times we do well, and in bad times we do even better,” said Chris Nicholas, CEO of Sam’s Club US who reported that like-for-like sales rose 6.7 per cent in the first quarter, excluding fuel, outpacing the growth of his parent company’s US namesake shops …” .

It is a division of the Walmart Group, which had sales of USD 92.6 billion in 2025 . “Sam’s’ is named after its founder, Sam Walton, and only buys large packages (‘bulk’) there.

Read the long version here.

Compiled on 30 May , updated on 3 June 2025