The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed last week (June 9) that Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) could complete on its multi-billion pound takeover of Morrisons after formally accepting its offer to sell 87 petrol stations to address concerns over lack of competition on fuel prices.

The firm won a lengthy auction to buy the Bradford-based grocer last year in a deal worth £7bn.

Read more: PDA pledges support for Morrisons pharmacists after £6.3bn takeover

A spokesperson for the supermarket confirmed to C+D on Friday (June 10) that the new owner has “no plans for any pharmacy changes as a result of the formal completion of the takeover”.

Morrisons operates nearly 500 shops across the UK – 117 of which have in-store pharmacies – and employs more than 110,000 staff.

PDA: “We will always act in the interests of our members”

Following the announcement, the PDA Union said it  “will be there working hard to represent, and further, the interests of employed and locum pharmacists, regardless of any potential changes to the ownership of their employer”.

PDA director Paul Day added that the union will “always act in the interests of our members”.

The PDA “will be supporting them to exercise their rights at work whatever decisions and actions are implemented by any existing or future owners”, he added.

The union expects Morrisons’ new owner to “realise the value in utilising its professional workforce to its full potential”, he added “as the most available part of the NHS, embedded in the heart of the community”.

“We want to see pharmacies treated as healthcare settings and dissuade attempts to treat medicines as ordinary items of commerce,” he said.