Debt (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2020

Debt Disclosure [Abstract]

Short-term borrowings

Debt consists of the following (all amounts are presented in millions of U.S. dollars and debt issuances are denominated in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise noted):

	August 31, 2020		August 31, 2019
Short-term debt
Commercial paper	$	1,517	$	2,400
Credit facilities	1,071		1,624
$8 billion note issuance1
2.700% unsecured notes due 2019	—		1,250
£700 million note issuance1
2.875% unsecured Pound sterling notes due 2020	533		—
Other2	418		464
Total short-term debt	$	3,538	$	5,738

Long-term debt

Long-term debt
$1.5 billion note issuance1
3.200% unsecured notes due 2030	$	497	$	—
4.100% unsecured notes due 2050	990		—
$6 billion note issuance1
3.450% unsecured notes due 2026	1,891		1,890
4.650% unsecured notes due 2046	591		591
$8 billion note issuance1
3.300% unsecured notes due 2021	1,248		1,247
3.800% unsecured notes due 2024	1,993		1,992
4.500% unsecured notes due 2034	496		495
4.800% unsecured notes due 2044	1,493		1,492
£700 million note issuance,1
2.875% unsecured Pound sterling notes due 2020	—		488
3.600% unsecured Pound sterling notes due 2025	398		365
€750 million note issuance1
2.125% unsecured Euro notes due 2026	891		824
$4 billion note issuance3
3.100% unsecured notes due 2022	1,198		1,197
4.400% unsecured notes due 2042	493		493
Other4	24		25
Total long-term debt, less current portion	$	12,203	$	11,098

¹Notes are unsubordinated debt obligations of Walgreens Boots Alliance and rank equally in right of payment with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of Walgreens Boots Alliance from time to time outstanding. On September 17, 2020, the Company provided notice to the trustee and the holders of its 2.875% notes due 2020 issued by the Company on November 20, 2014 that it will redeem in full the £400 million aggregate principal amount outstanding of the notes on October 20, 2020.

²Other short-term debt represents a mix of fixed and variable rate debt with various maturities and working capital facilities denominated in various currencies.

³Notes are senior debt obligations of Walgreen Co. and rank equally with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of Walgreen Co. On December 31, 2014, Walgreens Boots Alliance fully and unconditionally guaranteed the outstanding notes on an unsecured and unsubordinated basis. The guarantee, for so long as it is in place, is an unsecured, unsubordinated debt obligation of Walgreens Boots Alliance and will rank equally in right of payment with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of Walgreens Boots Alliance.

⁴Other long-term debt represents a mix of fixed and variable rate debt in various currencies with various maturities.

Future maturities of long-term debt

At August 31, 2020, the future maturities of short-term and long-term debt, excluding debt discounts and issuance costs and finance lease obligations (see note 4, leases, for the future lease payments), consisted of the following (in millions):

	Amount
2021	$	3,545
2022	1,250
2023	1,200
2024	—
2025	2,005
Later	7,816
Total estimated future maturities	$	15,816