Pessina to step up international expansion if fresh bid successful
Stefano Pessina plans to ramp up international expansion and increase healthcare partnerships if he succeeds in taking the Alliance Boots business private.

Retail Week has learnt that deputy chairman Pessina, who launched a£10 billion bid for the company with private equity investor KKR last Friday, has aggressive plans to accelerate the development of the business if a fresh bid proves successful.

A source close to Pessina said he is determined to exploit opportunities for the brand as a healthcare provider in the UK and also has plans to make both retail and wholesale acquisitions in international markets.

'The healthcare agenda is growing in the UK,' said the source. 'Community pharmacy is key and is an efficient part of the business. He wants to expand the provision of pharmacy-led health and beauty.'

The source added: 'Stefano's view is that wholesale is a fantastic way to get into a new market. It is an inexpensive way of getting in and dealing with lots of retailers and seeing how their models work there. It is also an opportunity to network and talk about maybe eventually buying them.'

The source said that if the deal goes through, Pessina will not perform a typical private equity slash-and-burn act. 'He is a growth man,' he said, citing Pessina's parents' business, which he took on and turned into the£3 billion Alliance UniChem business, as an indicator of his mentality. 'He is not about decimating a business.'

'There is nothing to suggest that he will strip it of assets,' said the source. 'Stefano is seeing the business as about growth. It is not about protecting it for himself or milking it for himself.'

The company, which has a 26 per cent share of the UK health and beauty market and 3,000 outlets in seven countries, opened its first GP surgery at its Poole store in January. Its wholesale and distribution network serves 14 countries.

This week, the board - excluding Pessina, who has a 15 per cent stake in the company - rejected the offer on the grounds that it failed to reflect the company's 'fundamental value' and its 'attractive prospects, opportunities and synergies' post-merger.

However, Pessina is expected to return to the table with a higher offer after allowing speculation surrounding the approach to cool off. City sources have suggested that another bid will not be tabled before Boots' pre-close trading update on March 28.

Pessina is known to be frustrated by the City's lukewarm response to the company's performance since the merger last July. In a trading statement for the three months to December 31, both its retail and wholesale divisions reported a 1.6 per cent like-for-like increase.

It is understood that the intense focus on like-for-likes prompted Pessina to mount a bid.

'He [Pessina] would say the public arena has got nowhere near putting the correct market value on it,' said the source.

Pessina is understood to believe that the four-year integration of the two companies can be achieved more quickly under private ownership. Cost savings of at least£100 million are expected to be realised within that period.