大象传媒

I鈥檝e had it confirmed that the institution mulling a Boots bid is KKR, which is the world鈥檚 biggest private equity firm and the de facto founder of the private equity industry. It has also been in the private equity consortium mulling a bid for Sainsbury. It鈥檚 not yet clear whether its interest in Boots will have implications for the Sainsbury deal.

One thing鈥檚 clear: the Treasury鈥檚 review of 鈥渟hareholder debt鈥� hasn鈥檛 put off the private equity boys.

Update 18:45 GMT: The disclosure that Stefano Pessina is collaborating with KKR on the bid massively increases the likelihood that this deal will go through. He is the creator of Alliance UniChem, which merged last year with Boots. But the crucial point is that the Monaco-based Italian billionaire controls at least 15 per cent of Boots鈥檚 shares.

What鈥檚 more, more than half of all Boots鈥檚 shares are in the hands of relatively few investment institutions. So KKR/Pessina won鈥檛 have to persuade too many holders to nab their prize.

One bunch of brainy people who presumably are feeling a little silly tonight are investment banks鈥� sell-side analysts, since almost all of them rated Boots鈥檚 shares as a 鈥渟ell鈥�. Their bearishness seems to have given Pessina his opportunity to offer just under 拢10bn for a business with formidable cash-generating capacity and a great opportunity to expand around the world.

Looks as though another great British business will soon be in overseas hands.