Consortium offers £11.15 a share
A bidding war has begun for health and beauty giant Alliance Boots, as a rival-consortium - led by Guy Hands' private equity firm Terra Firma - has now upped the stakes, by making a£10.8 billion offer for the retailer.

The consortium, which also includes medical charity Wellcome Trust and HBoS, has made an offer of£11.15 per-share, increasing the£10.90 per-share offer made by deputy chairman Pessina and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) this morning.

The Terra Firma-led consortium had already made an offer for£10.85 a share in cash.

Terra Firma said in a statement to the stock exchange: 'The Consortium awaits a response from Alliance Boots on additional due diligence and urges shareholders in Alliance Boots to take no action.'

KKR and Pessina had previously raised their bid approach 50p above their initial£10.40-a-share offer. Because Pessina is Boots' biggest shareholder with a 15 per cent stake, he has to date been widely expected to be successful.

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