Kohlberg Kravis Roberts pledged not to close stores after winning the bidding war for Alliance Boots with a revised £11.1bn bid. Financial Times

Partner Dominic Murphy promised that the private equity firm would not close stores or lay off staff and would even look to open more community pharmacies. This is despite having to up its bid by £500m. It also said it was not scaling back any investment plans.

'There is no requirement to pledge any time[frame],' said Murphy. 'The business has an important relationship with the British consumer and we want to nurture, invest and grow it and protect KKR’s reputation as well,” he said, adding that KKR would remain committed to Alliance Boots for 'at least five years'.

The sale is the biggest-ever public-to-private deal in Europe and the first private equity takeover of a FTSE 100 company. Yesterday morning KKR and Stefano Pessina, deputy chairman of Boots Alliance, raised their shareholding 26%, forcing the rival consortium of Terra Firma, Wellcome Trust and HBOS to drop its £11.15, or £11.26 with break fee, indicative bid.