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57 min ago 2 min read
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a merger inquiry into Dolby Medical Home Respiratory Care’s, or Vivisol’s, proposed acquisition of the home oxygen services business of industrial gas firm Air Liquide’s Healthcare segment.
The move follows the CMA’s decision to seek views from interested parties on the proposed acquisition, after which the regulator said it had not identified specific competition concerns.
The government says the main aim of a CMA Phase 1 investigation is to determine whether a merger creates a “realistic prospect” of a substantial lessening of competition.
The regulator is required to decide by 19 November whether to proceed with a Phase 2 investigation.
The proposed acquisition would see Vivisol, which is owned by industrial gases multinational SOL Group, take over Air Liquide Healthcare’s UK home oxygen services business through its subsidiary Dolby Healthcare.
The deal would bring together two suppliers in a concentrated UK home oxygen market, where NHS services are awarded through regional contracts.
Air Liquide currently serves the South West of England, while Vivisol supplies patients in the North East and South East. Other major providers include Baywater Healthcare, which operates across several regions including the East of England, London and Wales, and BOC, which serves the East Midlands and Northern Ireland.
Vivisol already holds four NHS regional contracts and supplies around 20,000 patients in the UK.
The UK home oxygen market is characterised by regulatory and operational barriers, including the capital and infrastructure required to provide services and geographically defined NHS contracts. Suppliers also require a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) licence and NHS contracts to provide oxygen within designated regions.
Homecare providers supply medical oxygen alongside equipment such as cylinders and oxygen concentrators, as well as installation, risk assessment and patient training services.
The acquisition would also extend Vivisol’s UK homecare footprint following its purchase earlier this year of Remeo Health and Remeo Property from Active Care Group.
