In this photo is a business sign hanging over the entrance to a Walgreens pharmacy and store in ... [+] Alexandria, Virginia. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)Getty ImagesWalgreen Boots Alliance will become privately held in a takeover by the investment firm Sycamore Partners for more than $10 billion, the companies announced Thursday.The deal, which had been rumored for months, calls for Walgreens shareholders to receive $11.45 per share in cash at closing of the Sycamore purchase and one non-transferable right to receive up to $3 in cash per WBA share from the future monetization of WBAs debt and equity interests in VillageMD, which includes the Village Medical, Summit Health and CityMD businesses, the companies said.Sycamores agreement to pay $11.45 per share is 29% above where the stock price was trading in December and represents an equity value of around $10 billion, the companies confirmed.Leveraging (Walgreens Boots Alliances healthcare expertise and Sycamores established leadership in retail and consumer services, WBA will be better positioned to become the first choice for pharmacy, retail and health services, the companies said Thursday after closing of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The Company will continue to operate under Walgreens, Boots and its trusted portfolio of consumer brands. WBA will maintain its headquarters in the Chicago area and continue contributing to the communities in which it operates, with the goal of positively impacting the health outcomes and overall well-being of its customers, patients, communities and team members.News of the Walgreens sale comes as rival CVS Health is committed to keeping all of its businesses including its retail pharmacies and growing Oak Street senior health center operation. CVS also owns the nations third largest health insurance company in Aetna and one of the nations largest pharmacy benefit management (PBM) companies in Caremark. Owning a health insurer and PBM allows those CVS companies to buy services from its provider operations at discounts for health plan enrollees as well as employer and government clients.Walgreens stock has been plummeting in recent years in part due to a disastrous rollout of clinics attached to stores. That has led the company to close hundreds of stores to reduce debt an stem financial losses.Under former chief executive Roz Brewer, Walgreens spent billions of dollars investing in and operating physician-staffed clinic operator VillageMD.Walgreens invested more than $6 billion in VillageMD under Brewer to take a controlling stake, but the company has already scaled back dramatically on the expansion of doctor practices and clinics the company opened attached to Walgreens. In 2020, Walgreens said it planned to open 500 to 700 Village Medical at Walgreens physician-led primary care clinics in more than 30 U.S. markets over five years, with the intent to build hundreds more thereafter.But Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth, who replaced Brewer in October 2023, said a year ago that Walgreens and partner VillageMD have slowed the number clinic openings in part because the operators havent been able to fill their patient panels, which are a certain number of individual patients under the care of a specific provider.Meanwhile, Walgreens, which has been closing stores and cutting costs, reported a net loss of $265 million, or 31 cents a share in its fiscal first quarter ended Nov. 30 of last year. That compares to a year-ago loss of $67 million or 8 cents a share.Its unclear what Walgreens strategy will be going forward. On Thursday afternoon, Wentworth said the company is focused on making healthcare delivery more effective, convenient and affordable as we navigate 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, Wentworth added. "Sycamore will provide us with the expertise and experience of a partner with a strong track record of successful retail turnarounds. The WBA Board considered all these factors in evaluating this transaction, and we believe this agreement provides shareholders premium cash value, with the ability to benefit from additional value creation going forward from monetization of the VillageMD businesses.