Aussie regulator greenlights Sigma-Chemist Warehouse $5.8 bln merger (updated)
06/11/2024 22:35
(Updates with details and background on the merger)
Nov 7 (Reuters) - The Australian competition regulator
on Thursday greenlit an A$8.8 billion ($5.78 billion) merger
between Sigma Healthcare SIG.AX and privately owned pharmacy
giant Chemist Warehouse, weeks after certain concessions were
made to alleviate competition concerns.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in
a statement said the proposed merger was unlikely to
substantially lessen competition after the court-enforceable
undertaking by Sigma.
"There is and will continue to be effective competition at
all levels of the pharmacy supply chain, capable of constraining
a combined Sigma Chemist Warehouse," ACCC Chair Gina
Cass-Gottlieb said.
The 112-year-old Sigma Healthcare, a full-line wholesaler
and distributor of prescription medicine and a franchiser of
around 400 pharmacies under several brands, last month allowed
some brands to opt out of the agreements without penalty as a
concession to facilitate the merger.
The proposed combination, announced roughly a year ago,
allows Chemist Warehouse to be effectively backdoor listed
through Sigma and will own around 85% of the merged entity.
Sigma welcomed the decision by the regulator, while Chemist
Warehouse did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for
comment.
($1 = 1.5223 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber)
((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar;))