Grocery chain Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) has sold its pharmacy business for £125mln to Lloyds.
The deal for the 277 in-store pharmacies and 4 in hospitals is expected to be completed by March next year.
LloydsPharmacy, owned by Celesio, will pay commercial rent for each location.
“LloydsPharmacy customers will benefit from an enhanced pharmacy service delivered from Sainsbury's stores with all the benefits of accessible parking, flexible opening hours and convenient locations” the supermarket said.
Shares nudged 2p higher to 261p.
Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coup said, after a strategic review in November, that the supermarket would only invest in the right areas, and would reduce costs where possible.
He mentioned non-food businesses such as clothing, cookware and homeware, as priorities, along with Sainsbury’s bank, but hinted that other areas could be sold.
Sainsbury’s re-gained the mantle of the UK’s second-largest supermarket yesterday for the first time since January.
Data from Kantar Worldpanel showed the FTSE 100 member’s market share of 16.5% edged ahead of ahead of Walmart subsidiary Asda’s 16.4%.
But lower prices meant sales growth across the big four chains was sluggish, due to falling grocery prices driven by increased competition.