KAMSACK — Ownership of one of Kamsack’s two pharmacies is changing after their parent companies obtained Competition Bureau clearance.
Neighbourly Pharmacy and Rubicon Pharmacies have announced that they have received clearance from the Competition Bureau to proceed with its previously announced combination, said a release from the Kamsack IDA pharmacy on behalf of Neighbourly Pharmacy.
Neighbourly currently owns Rx Drug Store I.D.A in Kamsack and a Rexall Pharmacy in Shaunavon, while Rubicon Pharmacies owns Kamsack Family Pharmacy and Jae's Pharmacy in Shaunavon.
Both companies are working on an acquisition date of June 27 and are in the process of scheduling closing activities including inventories in selected locations.
“We are pleased that the Competition Bureau has concluded its review of this combination of Canada’s community pharmacy leaders,” stated Chris Gardner, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer.
“The acquisition of Rubicon will ideally position Neighbourly to continue to grow its presence across Canada and expand its role as a leader in community pharmacy,” the release said. “Rubicon’s pharmacies are similar to our own, acting as the centre of health care delivery for smaller, underserved communities.
“However, our greatest similarity is our shared values: both companies place an unmatched priority upon patient-focused care.”
As part of the agreement with the Competition Bureau, the merged company has agreed to divest of two pharmacy locations in Saskatchewan: Kamsack Family Pharmacy Pharmachoice, and Shaunavon Rx Drug Mart IDA.
While both the Neighbourly and Rubicon teams are disappointed to have to divest two locations and great teams, the agreement with the Competition Bureau was made due to Neighbourly and Rubicon both owning the only two pharmacies in both markets, it said. “In order to preserve robust competition in both markets, we have begun a sale process on both locations and expect to announce the new pharmacy owners in the coming weeks.
“The sale of both locations will occur after the combination of Neighbourly and Rubicon and we commit to communicating both openly and transparently to our teams in both impacted locations.
“Our priority is to ensure that our staff, patients and customers are not impacted by the divestiture, and we are actively engaged in a number of pharmacy operators that are interested in acquiring both locations. We will ensure that that sale of both locations will happen in accordance with our CARE values.
“The pharmacy and store teams will continue to be Neighbourly employees until the sale to new owners, and we anticipate that all staff will continue to work for the new pharmacy operators,” the release said. “We anticipate that the new operator will continue to run both locations under the same respective banner programs (IDA and Pharmachoice) and the ownership change should not be disruptive to their communities, patients, customers and staff.
“While we are disappointed to have to say goodbye to two great pharmacies and committed colleagues, we are actively engaged to ensure that our teams are supported through this transition.”
The release said that more details will be communicated as pharmacy operators are identified, however the sale of both pharmacies are not expected to occur until September.
