The Competition Commission has cleared retailer Clicks to acquire 83 pharmacies countrywide.
”The Competition Commission has recommended to the Competition Tribunal that it approve without conditions the acquisition by the Clicks Organisation (Pty) Ltd (TCO) of four firms which own and control 83 pharmacies nationwide,” the commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
TCO is a private company, wholly owned by listed entity, New Clicks Holdings Ltd.
The four firms are Purchase Milton & Associates (Pty) Ltd, Milton & Associates (Pty) Ltd, J&G Purchase (Pty) Ltd, and Leon Katz Ltd.
Together, they control, inter alia, the following pharmacy brands: Hyperpharm, Guardian, Galleria, Pharmarama, Remedys and Medirama.
Amendments to the Pharmacy Act 88 of 1997 now allow for a non-pharmacist, in this case a retail group, to own a dispensing pharmacy subject to obtaining approval from the director general of the Department of Health.
One of the conditions is that the pharmacy is under the continuous supervision of a registered pharmacist.
Nkonzo Hlatshwayo, manager of mergers and acquisitions division at the Commission, said that TCO’s rationale is that this provision, and consequently this transaction, creates a huge potential for the effective distribution of dispensing drugs, particularly in rural areas.
”Based on our analysis of all relevant factors,” he said, ”we have concluded that it is highly unlikely that this large merger could substantially prevent or lessen competition and have therefore recommended that it be approved unconditionally.” – Sapa