[1] It had two core business activities – pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing, and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution – and also increasingly developed and internationalised its product brands.

In 2007 it was bought out in a private equity transaction by AB Acquisitions Limited, led by Stefano Pessina and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).

Alliance Boots GmbH was established in Switzerland during 2008 and is a direct subsidiary of AB Acquisitions Holdings Limited, which held all shares in the company.

[3] It exercised that option in August 2014, and following shareholder and regulatory approvals, the two businesses merged on 31 December 2014 to form Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Following a short period of speculation amongst financial analysts, it was announced in October 2005 that Boots Group would merge with Alliance UniChem in a deal valuing both companies equally and said to be worth around £7 billion.

[5] Rival firm Celesio, owner of the Lloyds Pharmacy chain, challenged the deal, although were rejected by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

The merger received final approval from the Office of Fair Trading in February 2006 and completed on 1 August 2006, although 96 shops were sold to comply with a condition laid down by the OFT.

The reverse takeover and subsequent privatisation was dubbed as "the best deal ever struck" by a managing partner at a private equity firm in June 2008.

Most branches include a pharmacy, and focus on healthcare, personal care and cosmetic products, with most stores selling over the counter medicines.

Larger stores typically offer a variety of healthcare services in addition to dispensing prescriptions, such as flu vaccination, cholesterol screening, weight loss advice, hair retention treatment, smoking cessation advice and products, and chlamydia testing & treatment (private service).

Today, there are Boots branded stores in several countries including the UK, Norway, Ireland, The Netherlands, Thailand, as well as the Middle East.

[24] Some reports allege that this was in response to the negative media publicity received by Dr. Almus when his family’s offshore holdings were exposed in the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers document leaks, showing ties to big oil, Bahamian and Swiss banks, ties to over 400 shell companies giving the implication of hiding family wealth in an effort to avoid taxation.

Alliance Boots itself stated that its Swiss headquarters reflected the international nature of its wider group and that it had an administrative office in Zurich.

[29] Boots' former head of corporate finance, John Ralfe, stated that he believed "the UK has lost about £100 million a year in tax" due to the move to Switzerland.

[30] In 2013, campaign group War on Want said on its website "New research shows that Alliance Boots, the high street chemist and pharmaceutical giant, has avoided more than £1 billion in tax since it went private six years ago through taking on excessive debts, profit shifting and corporate restructuring.