Will you pay higher prices as major pharmacies merge? | The Business | ABC News скачать в хорошем качестве

Will you pay higher prices as major pharmacies merge? | The Business | ABC News

Australia's competition regulator has approved a merger between discount pharmacy retailer Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare to create a pharmaceutical giant. The new merged entity will operate 950 retail stores. Franchisees will still be able to operate under their existing banners including Chemist Warehouse, MyChemist, Amcal, PharmaSave, Guardian and Discount Drug Store pharmacy brands. Sigma is also a wholesaler of pharmaceutical products and the new company will own 16 distribution centres across Australia and New Zealand. But not all industry players are happy. The lobby group representing thousands of pharmacies, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, says the regulator will need to closely monitor the merger to ensure it doesn't reduce competition and lead to higher prices. The ACCC slapped conditions on the deal, including establishing an independent auditor, and allowing pharmacies to exit the group, with their data deleted. The ACCC has said it if companies break the conditions set, it will take them to court. The deal still requires the approval of Chemist Warehouse and Sigma's shareholders and the Federal Court. #ABCBusiness Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-0... ABC News provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad. It's news when you want it, from Australia's most trusted news organisation. For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2 Like ABC News on Facebook:   / abcnews.au   Follow ABC News on Instagram:   / abcnews_au   Follow ABC News on X (Twitter):   / abcnews   Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNews #ABCNewsAustralia