Walgreens, Alliance Boots form new jointly owned company: Walgreens Boots Alliance Development

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens has formally set up a new company, jointly owned with Alliance Boots, as part of their strategic partnership’s synergy program.



The new company, called Walgreens Boots Alliance Development, will be based in Bern, Switzerland.



No other details were released.



Walgreens and Alliance Boots first announced their proposed acquisition strategy in June and last month named CFO Wade Miquelon to an expanded and global leadership role as president of value creation services and international division. In that capacity, Miquelon serves as Wasson’s senior leader in collaborating with Alliance Boots management team to execute the new global strategic partnership.



At the time, Walgreens also named Robert Zimmerman, SVP international and international chief administration officer, as the lead executive for the Walgreens-Alliance Boots' "synergy team." Former Wellpoint senior executive Brad Fluegel assumed the role of chief strategy officer at Walgreens.



As part of the Alliance Boots announcement in June, Walgreens stated that it expects combined synergies across both companies of between $100 million and $150 million in the first year and $1 billion by the end of 2016. To carry out a focused effort to capture those synergies, the company is setting up six new “global synergy teams” in Miquelon’s new organization that will work closely with Alliance Boots.



By 2016, the deal is projected to transform Walgreens from a $72 billion operator — with two-thirds of its revenue coming from its U.S. pharmacy business — to a $130 billion global health-and-wellness player.