Mukesh Ambani makes headway in bid to buy out Boots drugstore chain in UK

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Richest Asian Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and US firm Apollo Global Management have inched closer to acquiring UK-based drug retail chain Boots.</p>
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The RIL-Apollo Global consortium has made a binding offer to the parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., according to a report by news agency Bloomberg.</p>
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If the deal comes through, it would be the largest foreign acquisition by Reliance Industries.</p>
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US retail giant Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. had put its UK arm Boots up for sale at the end of last year and was seeking $8.8 billion for the drugstore chain.</p>
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However, bidders had pegged its worth at a much lower level.</p>
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Earlier, news reports mentioned that the Reliance-Apollo chances have improved after the news agency in May reported last month that a competing group backed by billionaire Issa brothers, the owners of Asda, another popular retail chain, and private equity group TDR Capital were not willing to raise their bid and had backed out of the race.</p>
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