March 18 (Reuters) - Walgreens Boots Alliance's ( WBA )

executive chair Stefano Pessina will almost double his stake in

the U.S. pharmacy group to about 30% as part of its $10 billion

takeover by private equity group Sycamore, the Financial Times

reported on Tuesday.

Pessina, Walgreens' top shareholder with a roughly 17% stake

in the company he helped forge through the 2014 merger of

Walgreens and Alliance Boots, will inject cash into it as part

of the deal, the FT said, citing people familiar with the

matter.

Pessina will also deepen his involvement in the group ahead

of a possible break-up, the FT said.

Sycamore is planning a three-way split of Walgreens into a

U.S. retail pharmacy, Boots UK and U.S. healthcare, the

newspaper had reported in February.

Pessina and Sycamore declined to comment to the FT, while

Walgreens did not respond to a request for comment. Reuters

could not immediately reach Pessina for comment, while Walgreens

and Sycamore did not respond to a request for comment.