Apollo teams up with Mukesh Ambani in bid for Boots

Buyout giant Apollo has teamed up with India’s second-richest man Mukesh Ambani to launch a bid for Boots, as the race to takeover the chemist enters the final stretch.

Apollo is working with Ambani’s firm Reliance Industries on a bid that would see both groups snap up an equity stake in the firm, the Financial Times first reported.

Buyout firms have been jostling for position and sounding out Boots owner Walgreens in recent weeks, with the firm reportedly now setting a 16th May deadline for bids.

The billionaire Issa brothers, owners of UK supermarket Asda, and private equity group TDR Capital, have also tabled initial bid for Boots.

Boots is expected to fetch a price tag of between £5bn and £6bn in the bidding race.

Any sale will mark the breakup of Walgreen Boots Alliance, which was formed when Walgreens snapped up the remaining 55 per cent of the chain it did not already own in 2014.