Canada's billionaire Weston family is set to buy Boots, abandoning plans for a stock market listing in a fresh blow to the City. 

Sycamore Partners, which bought Boots’ US parent Walgreens Boots Alliance last year, could reach a deal as soon as next week with the former Selfridges owner. 

A sale could see the British chemist valued at around £6.8billion, according to a report in The Financial Times, dashing hopes of an initial public offering, although no final decisions have been made. 

Boots' return after a 19-year absence from the UK stock market would have provided a much-needed vote of confidence for the City. 

In June, Australian pharmacists Sigma Healthcare, who had held 'preliminary discussions' with Boots, pulled out of talks, rekindling hopes of a float. 

A takeover by the Westons makes it 'unlikely that an IPO of Boots would happen any time soon,' said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. 

He added: ‘This would be a major blow to the London Stock Exchange which has desperately been trying to attract more companies to float in London. Boots is a major name on the high street and exactly the type of brand that could attract retail investors keen to put money into a name they know well.’

The Weston family would want to make the chemist ‘run more efficiently’ and could invest large sums into improving stores, Coatsworth added.

The Westons are best-known in the UK for the Associated British Foods empire, which contains fashion chain Primark, as well as owning department store Fortnum & Mason. 

The Canadian side of the family owns the grocery chain Loblaws and pharmacy chain Shoppers Drug Mart through its Wittington Investments holding company. They sold Selfridges for £4billion in 2022.

Buyout group Sycamore Partners broke up Boots’ former owner Walgreens Boots Alliance in August last year after its £7.4billion takeover of the US group, creating the Boots Group in the process.

It includes the chemist’s UK and Irish chains, Boots Opticians and the No7 Beauty Company. Walgreens Boots Alliance boss, Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina, and his wife, Ornella Barra, continue to own a 44 per cent stake in Boots.

Earlier this year, Pessina, who originally brought together Boots and US chemists Walgreens in 2012, said Sycamore ‘will, of course, have to sell [Boots] sooner or later’.

Former Currys boss Alex Baldock took the reins at Boots, which employs 51,000 staff in Britain, bolstering optimism for a float. 

Industry experts have said that Boots has become more alluring to potential buyers and investors as it cashes in on strong beauty sales.

Boots last year saw annual sales rise 3.2 per cent to £7.5billion, boosted by strong demand for its beauty products and weight-loss jabs. The business started as a family herbal medicine shop in Nottingham in 1849.