Union acquires Cal – what will happen now to Super-Pharm?
The Competition Authority approved the Union-Cal merger, on condition that Union sells its entire stake (37%) in Super-Pharm. The concern: access to information on 4 million credit cards would give the pharmacy chain an unfair advantage. Transfer of information from Cal to Harel was also prohibited.
The Competition Authority, Michal Cohen, approved today (Tuesday) the merger between Union Investments and Development and the credit card company Cal, but conditioned it on the full sale of Union's holdings in Super-Pharm (37%). The Authority's main concern was that Union, which will hold Cal after the merger, would transfer sensitive information on millions of transactions – about 4 million cards – to the pharmacy chain, thereby granting it an unfair competitive advantage over its rivals in the pharmacy sector. The Authority initially considered a solution of internal oversight to prevent information transfer, but after no agreement was reached with the parties on the scope of the prohibition and the supervisor's powers, it adopted a structural solution of ownership separation. In addition, a condition was set prohibiting Cal from transferring information to Harel, which sought to acquire 20% of the company, for fear that personalized pricing in the health insurance field would harm competition. The approval is valid for one year or until the completion of the deal.