The competition watchdog said the acquisition may not be put into effect on the grounds that the result of the proposed acquisition will be to substantially lessen competition in markets for services in the State.

This proposed acquisition was notified to the CCPC in December 2021. As part of the proposed acquisition, Uniphar would have acquired sole control of NaviCorp Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiaries Thera Pharmaceuticals Limited, CarePlus Pharmacy DAC, TouchPlus Technologies Limited, and Pembroke Healthcare Limited.

In April 2022, the CCPC decided to carry out a full Phase 2 investigation into the proposed acquisition and subsequently issued an assessment to the parties in September 2022. Having completed its full investigation, the CCPC reached the conclusion that the proposed acquisition may not be put into effect as it will result in a substantial lessening of competition in each of the markets for:

• the provision of buying group services in the State; and
• the provision of common management and branding services in the State.

The CCPC will publish the full determination on its website no later than 60 working days after the date of the determination and after allowing the parties the opportunity to request that confidential information be removed from the published version.