Uniphar gets green light for €50m McCauleys pharmacies deal

Uniphar’s acquisition of the Sam McCauley chain of pharmacies has been approved by the competition regulator subject to some conditions.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) sanctioned the deal, valued at an estimated €50 million, that will see Uniphar acquire LXV Remedies (M/22/049), the parent company of 37 pharmacy outlets across Leinster, Munster and Ulster, from investment fund Carlyle Cardinal Ireland and the chain’s founder, Sam McCauley.

The regulator said that, following the conclusion of its phase-one investigation into the deal notified to it last September, and subject to the commitments given by Dublin-listed Uniphar, it had decided that that the proposed acquisition would not substantially lessen competition.

Uniphar has agreed to sell three pharmacies – in Athy, Co Kildare; Navan, Co Meath; and Bunclody, Co Wexford – to satisfy concerns about competition in those counties. The three will be sold as going concerns to an approved buyer and Uniphar will not move to buy any of the three outlets back for an agreed period.

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The CCPC in December blocked a multimillion-euro Uniphar move to acquire pharmacy solutions business NaviCorp on competition grounds, the first time in more than a decade that Irish competition authorities prohibited a transaction.