IT’S never nice being second choice.
But that’s exactly what our pension funds will be when the owner of Boots tries to get them to invest if it lists the chain next year.
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The health and beauty retailer is the unwanted child of Walgreens Boots Alliance, the US pharmacy giant bought in a £12billion takeover in 2014 by 82-year-old mergers maestro Stefano Pessina.
It has ended up a noisy distraction for Walgreens.
So much so, that it tried to flog the business last year.
The auction flopped because not many buyout firms wanted to take an expensive bet on a UK retailer at a time when both the economy and consumer spending was weakening.
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Plus there was its problematic pension deficit — although that has been solved with a £4.8billion transfer last month.
The biggest obstacle to a takeover was Walgreens’ punchy £5billion asking price for Boots.
Even the Issa brothers, who had been on a spending splurge with Asda, baulked at it.
Admittedly, recent trading has not been shabby, with sales up 10 per cent to £7.8billion, helped by bringing on Ariana Grande and Kylie Jenner’s beauty ranges.
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And it made profits of £137million last year.
After all, Boots can still trade on the nostalgia of a high street shop that has been around for 174 years.
Brits would mourn its loss, much like they have with Woolworths.
And it plays a vital role in communities because of its pharmacies.
During last year’s sale process, Boots’ well-paid advisers trotted out the line about the potential of more lucrative healthcare services due to the creaking NHS.
It did help during the Covid jab roll-out, but its promise of having in-shop doctors and nurses has been limited to one store in Brighton so far.
Meanwhile, its stores are a much bigger issue for any sensible investor.
It has a shiny new one in London’s redeveloped Battersea Power Station — with ex-Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts at the pre-launch event — and a ludicrously expensive beauty hall in nearby Covent Garden.
Both only serve to generate a buzz and a venue to tour potential investors.
But the rest of its 2,000 shops are left with tired floors, messy shelves and overworked pharmacists.
Its rent bill is enormous.
Bosses at the London Stock Exchange are undoubtedly falling over themselves to win Boots, after one of the worst years for initial public offerings.
But investors should be careful.
If a listing is the last resort for a seller, it shouldn’t be top priority for our pension pots.
BIZ CRIME BLITZ
SMALL businesses are struggling with a crime epidemic.
More than 81 per cent — or 4.1 million firms — were hit by online and physical crimes in the past year.
Over a third were the victims of vandalism, anti-social behaviour, burglary or robbery and theft, the Federation of Small Businesses said.
Some 72 per cent were hit by cybercrime. Police did not attend 59 per cent of reported crimes, an FSB poll found.
And it said small business crime is being “overlooked by authorities”.
CARDS FEES CAP
VISA and Mastercard will be blocked from charging hefty fees to British businesses that export to Europe.
Since Brexit the two card giants have hiked charges to 1.15 per cent for debit and 1.5 per cent for credit.
British firms selling goods online or by phone have been hit with £200million a year in costs.
The Payments System Regulator wants to cap EU-UK fees at 0.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent instead.
The cards have said the fees reflect the risk of fraud with overseas transactions.
INDITEX’S YULETIDE SALE LIFT
PROFITS at fashion brand Inditex soared by a third to £3.5billion as shoppers buying glitzy outfits for the festive party season boosted sales.
The world’s biggest fashion retailer said sales were 14 per cent higher, to £22billion over the last six weeks, as collections had been “very well received by customers”.
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Inditex, which owns Zara, Bershka and Pull & Bear, said that over a longer three month period, sales had increased by 6.6 per cent.
This is a drop on its last sales growth of over 10 per cent in the previous two quarters, which they blamed on unseasonably warm weather dampening demand for winter wear.
The figures came a day after Zara apologised and scrapped an advert of mannequins wrapped in white cloth which people said resembled images of the war in Gaza.
The advert was shot in September, prior to the start of the war.
DISCOUNT shop Poundland is hiring 962 former Wilko staff.
The store bought 64 Wilko shops after the company collapsed and kept 826 of the staff who worked there.
Around 12,500 jobs were lost when the homewares chain went bust
GAMBLING BOSS SHARP EXIT
THE boss of Ladbrokes owner Entain, Jette Nygaard-Andersen, has abruptly stepped down with immediate effect less than three years into the job.
Her exit comes a week after the gambling company paid a £615million penalty following a long-running probe into bribery in its former Turkish business.
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Ms Nygaard-Andersen has been under pressure as Entain’s share price has slid by almost 40 per cent this year.
The Danish boss said it was the right time to leave as the resolution of the investigation means “the group is now safe, stable and sustainable”.
She said: “The past three years have been rewarding and challenging in equal measure”.
There now just nine female chief executives left in top posts at FTSE 100 companies including Amanda Blanc, boss of Aviva and Debra Crew at Diageo.
£3bn GIFT WEEKEND
SHOPPERS are set to splurge £3.3billion this weekend in a rush for Christmas gifts.
Around 38million people are set to hit the shops and online retailers .
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Sales are expected to peak at £1.76billion on “Super Saturday” making it the busiest his year so far, according to Vouchercodes.co.uk.
Almost 13million people will hit the high street on Saturday while just under 7million will shop online this year.
