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The Conversation
The Conversation
Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

The Chemist Warehouse deal is a sideshow: pharmacies are ripe for bigger disruption

Chemist Warehouse Sigma Sigma Healthcare Stephen King Uber the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

There’s something curious about the proposed merger between Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare.

Chemist Warehouse has about 550 retail pharmacies. Sigma has another 400.

Yet the law limits owners to just a handful of pharmacies per state. Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria allow just five, Western Australia and Tasmania allow four, and South Australia allows six.

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