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Irish Competition Watchdog Blocks Uniphar’s Acquisition Of Navi

By  |  December 18, 2022

The CCPC found that Uniphar acquiring Navi would ‘substantially lessen competition’ in Ireland.

Uniphar’s proposed acquisition of Irish pharma services group Navi has been blocked by Ireland’s competition watchdog.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said the deal would give Uniphar sole control of NaviCorp, which trades as Navi Group, and its wholly owned subsidiaries Thera Pharmaceuticals, CarePlus Pharmacy, TouchPlus Technologies and Pembroke Healthcare.

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It argued that the takeover, which was first announced a year ago, 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”.

Dublin-headquartered Uniphar provides supply chain and retail services to medtech and pharma companies in the US and Europe.

It announced plans to acquire Navi Group in December 2021, along with two other pharma companies based in the UK.

In April this year, the CCPC launched a full investigation into the acquisition and subsequently issued an assessment to the parties in September.