RIL to submit bid for British medical retail chain Boots by month-end

In final bids for Boots, billionaires, and owner of UK's retail ASDA Group, Issa Brothers, are in the race with TDR Capital, a British private equity firm, and will be the front-runners.

Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries (RIL) plans to submit a bid, along with Apollo Capital, for British medical retail chain Boots UK by the end of this month, according to people in the know. 

The transaction, which would be RIL’s first big-ticket overseas investment after a string of acquisitions in the American shale gas industry, may cost as much as $10 billion.

The deadline for submitting the bid was on Monday but it was extended following a request from the bidders, said a banker. UK-based billionaires, Issa Brothers, who own British supermarket chain Asda are in the race along with private equity firm