Walgreens Considers Going Private: Will This Be The Largest Leveraged Buyout On Record?

After announcing that it was laying off an undisclosed number of workers at its U.S. corporate headquarters and shuttering 150 health clinics, Walgreens (WBA) is now reportedly considering the option of going private.

According to sources for Reuters, Walgreens has had preliminary discussion with private equity firms and has hired investment bank Evercore to explore a possible leveraged buyout, which would reportedly be the biggest on record. To make the deal happen, most likely several private equity firms would have to finance the buyout, the news outlet said.

Walgreens has a market value of about $55 billion with $17 billion in outstanding debt, according to its most recent regulatory filing. With 9,300 drugstore locations in the U.S., it is one of the largest pharmacies in the world, but is struggling as consumers turn online for drugstore staples and insurers pay less to fill prescriptions, CNBC reported.

Walgreens previously announced it was initiating a cost cutting measure of $1.8 billion by fiscal 2022. The retailer also disclosed in August that it would be closing around 200 U.S. stores and another 200 locations in the U.S.

With reports of the possible private buyout, Walgreens stock soared about 8 percent, according to Reuters. Shares of Walgreens stock were up 3.94 percent as of 3:03 p.m. EST on Tuesday.