LloydsPharmacy owner to acquire Sainsbury’s pharmacies in £125m deal
THE owner of Coventry-based LloydsPharmacy is set to acquire Sainsbury’s pharmacy business for £125m.
The strategic partnership will also see Sainsbury’s receive commercial annual rent payments from LloydsPharmacy parent Celesio.
The deal will see LloydsPharmacy acquire 281 pharmacies in total, including 277 in-store pharmacies and four located in hospitals, all of which will be rebranded as LloydsPharmacy.
The new partners said Sainsbury’s and LloydsPharmacy customers would benefit from an enhanced pharmacy service delivered from Sainsbury’s stores with better parking facilities, flexible opening hours and more convenient locations.
Mike Coupe, CEO of Sainsbury’s, said: “Pharmacy services are incredibly popular with Sainsbury’s customers and we are delighted to be teaming up with LloydsPharmacy to develop our offer.
“Working together with a specialist operator like LloydsPharmacy will enable us to grow and extend our pharmacy services to customers, whilst realising value for shareholders today from the pharmacy business we have grown organically over the last 20 years.”
LloydsPharmacy is the country’s second biggest retail pharmacy operator with more than 1,500 stores across the UK. The company takes a service-led approach to community pharmacy aiming to improve access to healthcare while alleviating pressure on GPs.
Marc Owen, Celesio chairman, said: “We are extremely pleased to be working with Sainsbury’s and look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to the LloydsPharmacy and Celesio family. This is a very important milestone for us as we continue to invest in LloydsPharmacy and our collaboration with Sainsbury’s will help to improve the health and wellness of our mutual customers.”
Cormac Tobin, Managing Director of LloydsPharmacy and Celesio UK, said Sainsbury’s was a good fit with his company and the enhanced network would provide a better service to consumers.
As part of the partnership agreement around 2,500 Sainsbury’s pharmacy staff will transfer to LloydsPharmacy under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings – Protection of Employment).
The deal is expected to complete by the end of February next year, subject to regulatory conditions being satisfied.
