Australian pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare has said a deal to acquire Boots would “not currently meet its strategic and capital investment objectives”,
It confirmed reports in the Financial Times that it had been in talks with Boots owner Sycamore Partners last week, but a potential $10bn deal is no longer on the cards.
Sigma Healthcare owns the Australian chain Chemist Warehouse, which recently entered the UK market.
The Canadian branch of the Weston family are among the other bidders to have been named by the FT as having held talks with Sycamore Partners.
The private equity firm took control of parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance last year. Reports had suggested that there were plans to list Boots publicly on the London market, but news of a potential sale emerged last week.
Currys chief executive Alex Baldock will take charge of Boots in the autumn, with the retailer saying last month that he would support the retail and pharmacy group through its “next phase of transformation, growth and investment”.
His experience at FTSE 250 retailer Currys had stoked speculation that an IPO was likely.
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