British report: Walgreen HQ to stay in U.S.

Deerfield-based Walgreen Co. could announce Wednesday that it will keep its headquarters based in the United States and not move overseas, according to a report in the British Sky News.

The report cited unnamed sources "on both sides of the Atlantic" who said Walgreen is likely to disclose as part of its announcement that it intends to remain a U.S.-domicilied company rather than pursuing a so-called tax inversion, which would involve moving its corporate headquarters to the U.K. or Switzerland.

Walgreen plans to acquire the remaining 55 percent of Alliance Boots that it does not already own, and some shareholders had urged Walgreen executives to take advantage of lower taxes overseas.

The report also said it would be a "significant victory" for President Barack Obama, who was urged by Sen. Dick Durbin to keep the headquarters here.

A Walgreen spokesman declined to comment and a state official did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

In January, Walgreen Co. talked to state officials about potentially moving its headquarters to Chicago, even before shareholders in May urged the company to move to Europe to save on taxes.

Walgreen executives talked with staffers from Gov. Pat Quinn's office about making the Old Main Post Office site in Chicago's Loop its new headquarters, but the discussions have not gone any further, said a source who asked to remain anonymous. Tax incentives were not yet on the table, the source told the Daily Herald in May.

Walgreen, which has about 3,500 workers here, already is in the state's Edge tax credit program after officials signed a deal a couple of years ago to invest about $75 million to expand its Deerfield campus and add about 500 workers.

Walgreen spokesman Michael Polzin said in May that the company had no plans to move, but added: "We are always conducting due diligence on our corporate footprint and have done studies in the past. But we are not engaged with developers on any new locations for our corporate headquarters as part of that due process."

Walgreen moved in 1975 from Chicago to the Deerfield campus, where it sits on about 1.7 million square feet.

Business: Drugstore chain with pharmacy and retail products and services

Leadership: President & CEO Gregory Wasson

Headquarters: Deerfield

Locations: total 8,699; total drugstores 8,231 in 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and U.S. Virgin Islands

Employees: 248,000

2013 sales: $72.2 billion

2013 earnings: $2.45 billion

Customers daily: 6.3 million

Website: <a href="http://www.walgreens.com">www.walgreens.com</a>

Source: Walgreens.com