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Hi rents in shopping centres, discounting, generic price disclosure and online shopping are changing the face of retail pharmacy. Chemist Warehouse will most likely buy the businesses (via their partnership loophole) and relocate to a nearby neighbourhood street. They have been using this strategy of buying pharmacies in desperate situations (which they have contributed too).

All the wholesalers have been in similar situations with pharmacies going under regularly over the last ten years or so in particular. I remember a Ferrier Hodgson report into the pharmacy industry several years ago into response to a large number of pharmacies getting into trouble. API a few years back had a more serious bad debt situation. I thought Wholesaler guarantees were now a thing of the past in response to this problem.

The situation is not going to get better for the wholesalers and it is not currently the publicity Sigma needs particularly at the moment. The sooner we see API and Sigma talking merger again and finally going through with it the better.