(Reuters) -Pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc is weighing a sale of its pharmacy automation business, which could fetch up to $2 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people familiar with the matter.
Walgreens will prepare for the start of Automation Unit iA’s sale process around next month, the report said according to sources who asked not to be identified as the matter is private.
The unit, which helps pharmacies fill prescriptions, could also draw interest from other rival healthcare companies, the report said, adding that no final decision had been made and the drugstore chain could choose to keep the business.
Walgreens declined to comment on the report.
The potential sale comes at a time when the company, one of the largest U.S. pharmacies, has been looking to gain a bigger foothold in the healthcare space, with sales at its traditional brick-and-mortar stores hit by lower demand for COVID vaccines and testing compared to last year’s peak.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
