The benefits of the merger are many, at least according to Messrs Wasson and Pessina.
One year later Stefano Pessina, the firm's executive chairman, and KKR, a private-equity firm, took the company private.
The deal with Walgreens fulfils Mr Pessina's ambition to bring Boots to America.
Wasson and Pessina acknowledge the worries, but see their partnership as a pragmatic answer to the rising cost of health care worldwide.
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Pessina, in particular, sees China and other Asian markets increasingly open to the idea of partnering with a larger player like Alliance Boots and Walgreen.
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He is the driving force in Alliance Boots' wholesale strategy, along with Ornella Barra, the company's wholesale and commercial director and Pessina's partner of 24 years.
However, the company has learned, says Michael Pessina, its vice-president of manufacturing operations, that too many choices, and too much flexibility, create problems for both customers and company.
Stefano Pessina is executive chairman of Alliance Boots GmbH.
Pessina, who owns nearly one third of Alliance Boots, is not taking out any cash in the transaction and instead will eventually become the single largest shareholder in Walgreens when the deal is complete.
While other U.S. pharmacies struggle with tightening payments from Washington, cash-strapped states and penny-pinching insurance companies, Wasson, 53, and Pessina, 71, hope to sidestep an era of growing government controls to capitalize on emerging markets with fattening pocketbooks, countries looking to access safe and effective medicines.
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