The US owner of high street chemist Boots says it will be taken private in a $10bn (£7.8bn) deal.

The move brings to an end nearly a century of trading on public markets for the Walgreens Boots Alliance.

It has seen its debt grow as cost-conscious customers chose to shop online and opted for cheaper products.

Around 300 stores of the pharmacy chain were recently closed across the UK as it shakes up the business.

There are now 1,900 Boots stores left in the UK.

The total value of the transaction could be worth up to $23.7bn, including debt and possible payouts down the line.

Under the deal, US private equity firm Sycamore Partners will pay $11.45 per share for Walgreens Boots Alliance. That is more than its shares are currently worth on the US stock market.

Walgreens shares rose by nearly 6% in extended trading in New York. But the company’s stock market value has fallen by around 80% over the last five years.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Tim Wentworth, chief executive of Walgreens, said the firm was navigating the “challenges of a rapidly evolving pharmacy industry and an increasingly complex and competitive retail landscape”.

“While we are making progress against our ambitious turnaround strategy, meaningful value creation will take time, focus and change that is better managed as a private company,” he added.

It is unclear what the deal would mean for Boots and its UK operations.

The Illinois-based Walgreens took a 45% stake in Boots in 2012.

It bought the remainder of the firm two years later in a deal that valued Boots at around £9bn.

Walgreens is also made up of its namesake US retail business, specialty pharmacy group Shields Health Solutions and healthcare provider VillageMD.

In recent years, the company has faced mounting challenges as customers turned to cheaper rivals.

In 2022, Walgreens put Boots up for sale but later dropped these plans, saying potential buyers had been unable to raise enough funds.

In October, it announced plans to shut 1,200 Walgreens stores in the US over the next three years under a cost-cutting programme.