(Bloomberg) — Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares surged after the Wall Street Journal reported that the pharmacy company is in talks to sell itself to Sycamore Partners, a private equity firm.
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The stock jumped as much as 28%, its biggest single-day gain since at least 1980. Walgreens shares had lost two-thirds of their value over the course of the year through Monday. That’s the worst performance of any stock in the S&P 500.
Walgreens declined to comment on the report.
In October, the pharmacy chain said it would be closing some 1,200 outlets over the next three years after posting a $3 billion loss in the fourth quarter on charges related to opioid liabilities and the write-down of an investment in China. The company’s retail division has struggled amid the rise of online retailers like Amazon.com and discount giants Dollar General and Costco.
(Updates shares in second paragraph, additional details in fourth paragraph.)
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