Do we like them?

Do we like Walgreens?

US pharmacy and drugstore chain, about 8,500 stores, based in Deerfield, Illinois; owned by Sycamore Partners since 2025.

Our score: 3 out of 10. Not yet. Walgreens is a big, needed pharmacy chain, but we'd be wary of a $300M opioid settlement, a private-equity turnaround and store closures.

Walgreens is one of the biggest US drugstore chains, with about 8,500 locations, and the second-largest pharmacy business in the country. In 2025 it stopped being a listed company. Sycamore Partners bought it in a deal worth about $10 billion.

Sycamore has a record of buying struggling retailers, including Staples, Talbots and Nine West. It put in Mike Motz, formerly of Staples, as CEO. John Lederer is executive chairman. Analysts have flagged worries about debt and private-equity ownership.

The big scandal was opioids. In April 2025 the DOJ announced that Walgreens would pay $300M, with up to $50M more if the company is sold. The DOJ said it filled prescriptions despite red flags. The deal settled the claims with no finding of liability.

Under the settlement Walgreens agreed to a seven-year agreement with the DEA and a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with HHS-OIG. Both cover things like checking prescriptions are valid and training pharmacists every year.

Store closures continue. Gray News reports in August 2026 say fewer than 100 stores will close this year, well below earlier internal projections of closer to 700 reported by Inc. We'd say mixed, leaning cautious.