The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Oct. 8, edition that the Weston family is returning to British retailing by acquiring drug-store chain Boots for $8.9-billion, including assumed debt, with financial backing from Fairfax Financial Holdings (all figures U.S.). The Globe's Andrew Willis and Susan Krashinsky Robertson writes that the Weston family's holding company, Wittington Investments, is buying the 1,800-store Boots chain from U.S. private equity fund Sycamore Partners, which acquired the British business as part of a $24-billion leveraged buyout of U.S. drugstore company Walgreens in 2025. Wittington is also buying out another billionaire family, headed by former Boots chair Stefano Pessina, who acquired the chain in 2007. Mr. Pessina had retained an ownership stake when he sold the majority of the company to Sycamore. Fairfax is backing Wittington's investment by paying $2.3-billion for a 50-per-cent stake in Boots. Wittington will have operating control of the chain. Galen Weston, chairman of Wittington and Loblaw, as well as chief executive officer of holding company George Weston, will become the chair of Boots after the acquisition closes in the first quarter of 2027.