By Neil Trainis

The Competition and Markets Authority has said it is investigating Pharmacy2U’s acquisition of LloydsDirect.

The deal, completed in October, saw the UK’s two biggest online pharmacy businesses merge but has been shrouded in a little mystery given Pharmacy2U’s refusal to disclose how much it paid for LloydsDirect.

According to electronic prescription service nominations data, Pharmacy2U and LloydsDirect are number one and two when it comes to the number of patients they have respectively.

NHS Business Services Authority data revealed Pharmacy2U dispensed 1,528,436 million items in June this year and LloydsDirect, previously owned by LloydsPharmacy, dispensed 1,142,891 million items, which was significantly ahead of third-placed Well Pharmacy’s online business which recorded 128,691 items.

Buying LloydsDirect, which was launched under the brand name Echo in 2015 before being acquired by LloydsPharmacy’s former parent company McKesson four years ago, will give Pharmacy2U about 1.4 million EPS nominations.

The merged business will continue to operate under the Pharmacy2U brand. The CMA did not say when it will announce its decision on the deal.