Walgreens at a glance
Walgreens is a U.S. retail pharmacy chain based in Deerfield, Illinois. Sycamore Partners completed its acquisition of parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance on August 28, 2025, ending the WBA listing on Nasdaq. Walgreens now operates as a private standalone company led by CEO Mike Motz, with John Lederer as executive chairman.
From one Chicago store to WBA
Charles R. Walgreen Sr. bought his first drugstore on Chicago's South Side in 1901. The chain listed on the Chicago Stock Exchange in 1927 and grew into a national network. In 2014 it combined with Alliance Boots to form Walgreens Boots Alliance, and in 2017 it bought 1,932 Rite Aid stores for about $4.4 billion.
Financial record
WBA's last full fiscal year as a public company ended August 31, 2024. Sales were $147.7 billion and the net loss attributable to WBA was $8.6 billion, driven largely by impairments tied to VillageMD and U.S. Healthcare. FY2023 also ended in a loss, of $3.1 billion. Because the deal closed days before the end of FY2025, WBA did not file a full-year FY2025 report, and Walgreens no longer publishes quarterly results.
How Walgreens makes money
Prescriptions are the core of the business, paid mainly by health plans and pharmacy benefit managers. Front-store retail and services such as immunizations and specialty pharmacy add to it. Walgreens does not own a PBM or insurer, unlike CVS Health, which leaves it exposed to reimbursement terms set by others.
Strategy under Sycamore
After the take-private, Walgreens, The Boots Group, Shields Health Solutions, CareCentrix and VillageMD began operating as separate companies. Walgreens scaled back the roughly 1,200-store closure plan announced in 2024 and expected fewer than 100 U.S. closures in 2026. It listed about 8,000 locations in 2026, down from roughly 8,500 at the time of the deal, and announced layoffs and a Houston distribution center closure in early 2026.
