Sigma Healthcare Shares Face Monday Test as Boots Deal Drama Hits ASX:SIG
Sigma Healthcare Ltd. heads into Monday’s ASX session with investors focused on whether the Chemist Warehouse owner has backed away from a possible acquisition of UK pharmacy giant Boots, after reports over the weekend said shareholder pushback had cooled the company’s appetite for a company-changing deal. Sigma’s shares last traded at A$2.64 on Friday, down 1.86% for the session, even as the S&P/ASX 200 — Australia’s main benchmark index of large listed companies — closed 1.98% higher at 8,804.04. The immediate issue for the share price is not Boots itself, but what a Boots deal would have meant: a potentially large equity raising, more debt and a major integration challenge just months after Sigma’s merger with Chemist Warehouse. Sigma told