Walgreens is reportedly considering taking itself private and the stock is surging

• Walgreens is considering going private, Bloomberg and Reuters reported on Tuesday.
• The $57 billion retail pharmacy giant's stock jumped 6% on Tuesday on the news.
• Its CEO, Stefano Pessina, owns a 16% stake in the company, according to Bloomberg.
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Walgreens is considering going private, Bloomberg and Reuters reported Tuesday.

The company, which has a market cap of $57 billion, has held talks with private equity firms, Bloomberg and Reuters reported. Reuters reports the company has hired on Evercore Partners to explore the potential for a deal.

The pharmacy giant's stock jumped 6% on Tuesday on the news. Even after the surge, the stock is down about 20% over the past 12 months.

Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina owns 16% of the company, according to Bloomberg.

Walgreens, which operates roughly 9,300 pharmacies, has been striking up partnerships with grocery stores, health plans, beauty subscription boxes, and tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet, with the hope of finding new ways to make use of its drugstores.

The partnerships strategy has drawn skepticism from investors, however, because they fall short of the big transactions pursued by the company's rivals and are slow to add profits to the company's bottom line.

In October, the company also announced its plans to stop operating its own health clinics, instead working with health system partners to operate them.

Representatives for Walgreens did not immediately return a request for comment.