On September 23, 2019, CCI approved the transaction notified by Apollo Medicals Private Limited (‘AMPL’) Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited (‘AHEL’), Apollo Pharmacies Limited (‘APL’), Enam Securities Private Limited (‘ESPL’), Jhelum Investment Fund I (‘JIF’) and Mr. Hemendra Kothari pursuant to a scheme of arrangement.[1] APL, was a wholly owned subsidiary of AMPL, which in turn was a wholly owned subsidiary of AHEL. The transaction involved AHEL carving out and transferring its front end retail pharmacy business to APL by way of slump sale. Subsequently, ESPL, JIF and Mr. Hemendra Kothari would acquire 44.7%, 19.9% and 9.9% shareholding respectively in AMPL with the remaining 25.5% shareholding being held by AHEL.

The parties to the proposed combination disclosed that they were not engaged in activities which are similar or identical to pharmacy business or any business that may have vertical links to the pharmacy business. For completeness, it was stated that Mr. Hemendra Kothari holds substantial interest in Health & Glow Private Limited, an entity engaged in the business of retail trade chain of personal and beauty care products. Both Health & Glow Private Limited and Apollo Pharmacy sold certain common FMCG products. However, given the minimal contribution of these products to the revenue of each of these entities, and availability of these products with several retailers across India, the combination was approved.

[1] Combination Registration No. C-2019/06/665, Order dated September 23, 2019