THE PHILIPPINE Competition Commission (PCC) deemed that there is no basis to prohibit the move of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI) to acquire 100% of Rose Pharmacy following the completion of the competition watchdog’s review, according to the listed retailer.
In a stock exchange disclosure on Thursday, RRHI said that PCC had completed the motu propio review on the company’s acquisition of Rose Pharmacy on Oct. 5. The PCC’s mergers and acquisition office conducted the review, which began on Nov. 7 last year.
RRHI quoted PCC as saying that the Commission en banc “resolved to terminate the motu proprio review and take no further action on the completed acquisition, there being no sufficient basis to prohibit the same. The Commission issued the formal certification to this effect on Nov. 6.”
In September 2020, RRHI, through its subsidiary South Star Drug, Inc., acquired 100% of Rose Pharmacy from Mulgrave Corp. B.V., which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dairy Farm International Holdings, Ltd.
The acquisition was completed on Oct. 30, 2020.
Established in 1952, Rose Pharmacy is one of the leading drugstore chains in the country, with about P8 billion in net sales as of September this year, or higher by 15.1% compared with a year earlier. It has 394 stores in Visayas and Mindanao.
Aside from Rose Pharmacy, RRHI operates two other drugstore brands, namely: Southstar Drug and TGP (The Generics Pharmacy). Southstar Drug has 639 stores while TGP has over 2,000 franchised stores.
“Rose Pharmacy is a very strategic addition to RRHI’s drugstore portfolio, with its highly-regarded brand in Visayas and Mindanao, and complementary network to South Star Drug’s strong presence in Luzon and Metro Manila,” the listed company said.
“The acquisition further allows RRHI to leverage its scale and synergies to drive wider product assortment, better customer service, and offer greater value to its customers across the Philippines,” the company added.
RRHI posted a 41.4% decline in its nine-month attributable net income to P2.58 billion from P4.41 billion a year ago as a result of higher equitized losses from the company’s minority startup investments.
Shares of RRHI at the local bourse closed unchanged at P38.50 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave