The Kamsack Rexall store is one of three Rexall retail outlets in Saskatchewan and one of 26 in Canada that is to be sold.
The Competition Bureau has reached an agreement with pharmaceutical wholesaler McKesson Corporation related to its acquisition of pharmaceutical retailer Rexall Health, says a posting on the Government of Canada website dated December 14.
The Bureau’s review of the proposed merger determined that it would likely result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in the wholesale and retail sale of certain pharmacy products and services, including prescription and over‑the‑counter pharmaceuticals, the posting says. “Under the terms of the consent agreement, McKesson must sell Rexall retail pharmacies in 26 markets in Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
The specific communities are: in Saskatchewan, Kamsack, Moosomin and Shaunavon; in Alberta, Athabasca, Banff, Barrhead, Blairmore, Fort MacLeod, High Prairie and Jasper; in British Columbia, Burns Lake, Ladysmith, Sechelt and Vanderhoof; in Ontario, Campbellford, Deep River, Durham, Englehart, Iroquois Falls, Lindsay, Sioux Lookout, Smithville, Stayner, Sturgeon Falls and Wingham, and in the Northwest Territories, Inuvik.
McKesson will restrict the transmission of commercially sensitive information between its wholesale business and the Rexall retail business, in order to preserve competition amongst rivals at the retail level, it says.
The consent agreement is a formal agreement registered with the Competition Tribunal, which has the force of a court order and contains remedial measures that the Commissioner has determined are an appropriate remedy to the transaction’s likely anti‑competitive effects, it says. Therefore, the Commissioner has issued a No Action Letter confirming he will not be challenging the transaction at this time.
Under the Competition Act, the Bureau has a mandate to review mergers to determine whether they are likely to result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition, it says. In reviewing mergers, the Bureau considers many different elements, including the impact of the proposed transaction on the level of economic concentration in the relevant industry.
In March 2016, McKesson Corporation announced its intention to buy businesses carried on by affiliates of Katz Group Canada Inc., including pharmacy chain Rexall, the posting says.
McKesson is the largest wholesaler of pharmaceutical products in Canada. It carries more than 55,000 products in its 13 distribution centres and supplies approximately 7,100 pharmacies across Canada.
