Independent advisory firm Centerview Partners has been named sole adviser to Alliance Boots on its $6.7bn stake sale to US drug store chain Walgreen. The mandate extends a relationship between the UK group and a partner at Centerview that dates back to the merger of Alliance Unichem and Boots in 2005.

Walgreen, the largest drug store chain in the US, announced this morning that it had agreed to buy a 45% stake in health and beauty group Alliance Boots in a $6.7bn cash-and-stock deal.