Corporate pharmacy chains purchased only 3.3% of Lloydspharmacy’s brick and mortar pharmacy premises, property broker Christie & Co yesterday (October 9) announced in its annual market review.
Lloydspharmacy was the second largest multiple in the UK as recently as March 2023 before the sale of all its high street branches was exclusively revealed by C+D in November.
Read more: Lloydspharmacy parent company ‘exiting the healthcare services sector’
Now, Christie & Co has revealed “the top 10 purchasers” of Lloydspharmacy premises “over recent disposal campaigns that spanned several years”.
The broker’s analysis found that “Sharief Healthcare Limited is identified as the largest beneficiary, having acquired 88 pharmacies”.
Read more: Tender triumph: Rowlands to take over five Lloydspharmacy hospital branches
“Jhoots Healthcare Limited acquired 70 in total”, making the chain a close second in the top Lloydspharmacy purchasers list, it said.
And it told C+D that Ascent Healthcare Limited acquired 44 premises, while Imaan Ltd bought 28.
“Corporate operators Rowlands and Well Pharmacy acquired 24 and 14 respectively,” it said.
20% bought by indies
Chistie & Co’s analysis also found that the “vast majority of the pharmacies were acquired by independent or small local multiple operators”.
Independents with one to two pharmacies bought up 19.6% of Lloydspharmacy disposals, while “small” chains with three to 10 premises bought 19.2%, it said.
“Medium” companies with 11-20 locations purchased 12% of disposals, it added.
Read more: Lloydspharmacy: Jhoots rent row leaves town without pharmacy ‘indefinitely’
But large operators with 21-299 premises snapped up 19.4% of those on sale, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the broker labelled 26.5% of all Lloydspharmacy purchases as “undefined”.
This “relates to closures or where purchaser information was undefined at the time of analysis”, it told C+D.
Lloydspharmacy latest
This summer, the former pharmacy chain’s parent company announced plans to exit contracts at 64 pharmacy sites operated by Lloydspharmacy Healthcare Services (LP HCS Ltd).
It comes after Rowlands revealed in July that it will take over the running of five hospital pharmacies from Lloydspharmacy in December.
Read more: Lloydspharmacy confirms ‘successful sale’ of all community pharmacies
That month, C+D also revealed that former Lloydspharmacy superintendent Victoria Steele would leave her role as LP HCS Ltd’s top pharmacist and the wider Hallo Healthcare Group (HHG) “this summer”.
And in May, a fourth community pharmacy premises was repossessed by bailiffs in connection with Lloydspharmacy’s liquidation.
Read more: Lloydspharmacy goes into liquidation with £293m owed to creditors
In January, it was revealed that the multiple entered into liquidation with almost £300 million owed to creditors.
And in April, C+D revealed that the former landlord of the head office of Lloydspharmacy’s holding company was owed nearly half-a-million pounds by the company.
