Alliance Boots began its first day of dealings as the UK's largest combined pharmacy, wholesale and retail stock today and said it was on track to deliver anticipated cost savings.
Boots and Alliance UniChem used the debut to publish their last trading statements as separate firms, showing that the two core businesses had been trading in line with expectations.
British health and beauty retailer Boots announced last October that it was buying Alliance UniChem, a healthcare wholesaler and retailer, to create a pan-European business with 3,000 stores and $24.25 billion in sales.
Alliance Boots has a market value of around $14.92 billion, making it still relatively small next to Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, and Asda, the British arm of the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores.
But the Alliance Boots merger highlights how big businesses chase scale to help keep supplier costs down and provide a broader offering to customers at attractive prices.
It also comes as Britain looks at new ways to ease the cost pressures facing the country's national health service.
Shares in Alliance Boots were trading down 1.4 per cent at 795 pence at midday, while the FTSE 100 index was down 0.3 per cent.