Walgreens reportedly contacting potential buyers for Boots U.K. pharmacy chain

Walgreens Boots Alliance is reportedly contacting potential buyers to sell its U.K.-based Boots drugstore chain, per a Bloomberg News report.

This is the second attempt at plans to sell Boots.  

According to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter, the Deerfiled, Ill.-based company is working with advisers to conduct preliminary discussions with prospective bidders for the unit, worth about 7 billion pounds ($8.78 billion).

[Read more: Walgreens Boots Alliance reportedly exploring $4B plus sale of Shields Health Solutions]

"From a strategic perspective, this makes sense to us as it would enable Walgreens to focus on its core U.S. Retail Pharmacy operations while also managing the U.S. Healthcare business, Leerink Partners analyst Michael Cherny said in a note, per a Reuters report.

A spokesperson for Walgreens contacted by Drug Store News said the company declined to comment on the report.