Unichem

Alliance Boots GmbH is a multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty group. It has two core business activities - pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing, and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution - and has a presence in over 25 countries including associates and joint ventures. It has revenue in excess of £22.4 billion It was formed in 2006 through a merger of the listed British high street pharmacist Boots Group and the pan-European wholesale and retail pharmacy group Alliance UniChem. Alliance Boots was initially a British plc listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2007 it was bought out in a private equity transaction. The trading business was transferred to a Swiss GmbH in 2008, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of a British company, AB Acquisitions Holdings. AB Acquisitions Holdings is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and the Italian businessman Stefano Pessina, who built Alliance UniChem and is now the executive chairman of Alliance Boots.