Its parent company Celesio UK told employees yesterday (October 26) it will cease trading in 190 “commercially unviable” branches across England, “through a combination of store closures and divestments”.

The multiple told C+D yesterday it is “already in discussions with some parties who have expressed an interest in our pharmacies”.

“We approached existing first-line customers, who have purchased from us previously and therefore have a known track record, and/or [are] cash purchasers, who can complete within our timescales for this work.”

“In order to facilitate the transaction, we also wanted to identify potential buyers who would be buying large numbers of pharmacies,” it added.

Lloydspharmacy was still unable to confirm to C+D which branches it has identified for sale.

Read C+D’s full coverage of the initial announcement – including Celesio UK's managing director's reasons for the sales, and initial reaction from readers – here.