Bundeskartellamt clears take-over of mail-order pharmacy apo-rot by DocMorris Holding GmbH

The Bundeskartellamt has cleared plans for the acquisition of assets of apo-rot mail order pharmacy pertaining to Apotheke am Rothenbaum Birgit Dumke e.K. in Hamburg by DocMorris Holding GmbH in Berlin. The participating companies operate mail-order pharmacies selling prescription and non-prescription drugs via the Internet in Germany.

Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: "The intended takeover is unproblematic under competition law. Mail-order pharmacies are direct competitors of stationary pharmacies. Looking at Germany as a whole, the market share of all mail-order pharmacies is currently around 1.3 % for prescription drugs and 13.4 % for non-prescription drugs. For consumers, mail-order pharmacies are an additional option to procure both prescription and non-prescription drugs."

While DocMorris, which is taking over apo-rot, is Germany's largest mail-order pharmacy, the nationwide market shares of both companies combined are under 1 % of the turnover achieved with prescription drugs and under 5 % of that achieved with non-prescription drugs. Even in postal code areas with just one stationary pharmacy, the combined market position of the two companies involved in the takeover is unproblematic under competition law, as consumers can procure pharmaceuticals from many other mail-order pharmacies and stationary pharmacies in neighbouring regions.