19 Sep 2002

Clicks Aus opens pharmacy franchise

Andile Ntingi

Johannesburg - Retailer New Clicks Holdings on Thursday said its Australia unit was offering pharmacy franchises, in line with the group's strategy of becoming a major international player in the healthcare field.

CEO Trevor Honeysett said in a statement that franchises using its Priceline Pharmacy brand would use the established support services infrastructure of the group.

New Clicks has been pushing on with plans in South Africa to own pharmacies in the hope that the government will change laws preventing them from owning such a business.

New Clicks Australia operates the House, Price Attack, and Priceline brands, and has 130 company-owned and 184 franchised outlets.

In July, New Clicks announced plans to buy South Africa's United Pharmaceutical Distributors for R281m.

Last year, retailer Pick 'n Pay moved into the pharmacy sector through a franchise model following a successful pilot project.

New Clicks said there were around 5 000 pharmacies in Australia of which 40% belong to a franchise group, while the remainder are independent.

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