Alliance Boots is still paying £65 million in monthly interest on £9 billion worth of debt its bankers have still to sell to investors as part of the £11 billion private equity-led takeover deal four months ago.

It has also emerged that the company's new owners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Italian billionaire, Stefano Pessina, paid £1.5 billion in dividends within days of Alliance Boots being taken private at the end of July. On August 6, a £1 billion dividend was paid followed by £550 million on August 20.

This payment was made as global credit markets began to tighten, making it difficult for the banks to find new investors to buy into the £9 billion debt used to finance the takeover deal.

So far, only £750 million worth of mezzanine debt has been syndicated, or sold on, to other investors.

It is now understood that a group of banks, led by Deutsche Bank, who underwrote the debt will restart efforts in the New Year to sell on the £8.25 billion debt that has been left sitting on their books.

Alliance Boots is paying at least 8.6 per cent in annual interest on the £9 billion which is equal to £774 million a year.

Alliance Boots said today: "The directors are satisfied with the performance of the company for the period and with its financial position at the end of the period. The directors consider the future prospects of the company to be good."

However, the company which is both a retailer and a drugs distributor, is facing a number of external pressures.

These include growing weakness in consumer spending, an Office of Fair Trading study into how drugs are distributed in the UK and the Government's recently introduced plan to cut the amount it pays British pharmacies for generic drugs.

Alliance Boots had expected the UK Government to cut £300 million off how much its pays for medicines but the final reduction reached a total £470 million, which could dent the company's profits by as much as £80 million this year.

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