Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares soared after CNBC said that a take-private deal with private equity firm Sycamore Partners is still possible. The deal for the drugstore chain appeared "mostly dead a couple of weeks ago," CNBC's David Faber said Tuesday. He said he was now upgrading the deal to "alive." Walgreens shares gained as much as 15% in New York. They had risen 4% this year as of Friday's close. Reports emerged in December of a possible deal with Sycamore, which had earlier expressed interest in Walgreens' international unit. Bloomberg reported at the end of last month that Sycamore had been speaking with private credit firms about debt financing for a potential deal for Walgreens, according to people familiar with the matter. Faber had said Jan. 27 that the deal was "mostly dead."
