Michael Thompson

Australia's biggest chemist chain moulds a $14 billion bid for UK retailing giant Boots.

The Aussie dollar heads lower along with Bitcoin and gold.

And airlines globally expect earnings to halve this year with net profit per passenger falling to just $6.

Plus rental yields are back under the spotlight as house prices falter.

and one of the country's biggest expansions of the power grid is ready to open.

It is Thursday, the 11th of June, 2026.

I'm Michael Thompson, and good morning, Sean Aylmer.

Good morning, Michael Thompson.

Sean, the main story this morning, Sigma Healthcare, which is, of course, the ASX-listed group that includes the Chemist Warehouse chain, has been involved in talks...

to acquire the UK pharmacy group Boots at an asking price of around $14 billion.

So Sigma yesterday said it was in talks with private equity firm Sycamore Partners, which owns Boots.

They said a deal is not yet done and may not come off as there are, in fact, other interested parties.

Well, I think this is particularly interesting because this isn't Sigma Healthcare's first foray into the UK.

Last month,

It bought a 74% stake in British group Greenlight Healthcare, which operates 22 pharmacies.

The strategy is to take the Chemist Warehouse brand to Britain.

It has established some stores in Ireland.

Now, Chemist Warehouse and its chief executive and co-founder Mario Verrocchi dominates Sigma Healthcare.

He told the Financial Review that when he started the retailer in 1980, Boots' vertically integrated model is actually what he followed.

So clearly...