Rexall, one of Canada’s largest pharmacy chains, is about to change hands at the end of the year to American health firm McKesson for a hefty sum of $3 billion. The acquisition comes just a few years after Shoppers Drug Mart was taken over by Loblaws for $12.4 billion, and it seems as though this deal has been in the making for a while.One of the main indicators of this change comes from the hiring of new CEO, Jurgen Schreiber, who was previously the CEO of Shoppers. He was the chief executive of Shoppers between 2007-2011 and came to Rexall in August 2015. The Loblaws takeover of Shoppers gave Rexall’s number one competitor a huge boost as its buying power and investment had increased.

While losing market share, Rexall Canada made some changes by replacing its navy and orange signature logo colours to an aqua blue, by heavily investing in its home brand Be Better, and by redesigning more than 50 of its stores. When the acquisition is finalized by the end of the year, hopefully the company will see more growth and discover its own competitive edge in Canada.

Quick facts about Rexall and Shoppers:

• Shoppers was founded in 1962 in Toronto.
• Rexall (the Canadian operation) has been in Canada since 1985 but is originally an American chain established in 1903.
• Shoppers has roughly 2,300 corporate, franchised and associate-owned stores and approximately 1,800 pharmacies.
• Rexall has about 470 drugstores across the country.
• Shoppers was acquired by Loblaws in March 2014.
• Rexall will be acquired by the end of 2016 by McKesson.
• The Shoppers deal was worth $12.4 billion.
• The Rexall deal will be $3 billion.
• Shoppers helped Loblaws double its profit after the takeover.

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