Boots completes D&A merger to form second largest optical chain

Alliance Boots announced on Tuesday it had successfully completed the formal merger of Boots Opticians with Dollond & Aitchison, to form the second largest optical chain in the UK.

As reported in Optician (04.02.09), Boots Opticians' merger with the rival optical chain was announced on January 29 2009.

A statement from Alliance Boots confirmed that the combined entity will now trade as Boots Opticians and that its optical arm will now trade as a stand-alone business. Alliance Boots will hold a controlling stake in the new company which it jointly owns with De Rigo.

As announced previously, the statement also confirmed the appointment of Pradip Patel (former managing director of Boots Opticians) as chairman of Boots Opticians and Andy Ferguson (former CEO of Dollond & Aitchison) as its managing director.