Boots, the UK pharmaceuticals retailer, has sold Halfords to CVC Capital, the independent private equity house, for £410m (€650m), a price that comes close to analysts' predictions despite tumbling stock market prices.

CVC Capital will pay Boots £410m in cash on completion. A further £17m will be payable if Halfords, the UK's largest retailer of car parts and bicycles, achieves certain sales targets in the period to March 31, 2003.