Quietly, at the end of last month, the competition regulator abandoned its September deadline for finalising its view on whether Sigma Healthcare should be allowed to merge with Chemist Warehouse, a deal which would create an $8.8 billion, ASX-listed pharmacy wholesaler and retailer.

Earlier that month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had, in a preliminary view, outlined its concerns that the transaction – pushed by David Di Pilla’s HMC Capital, a major Sigma shareholder – would lessen competition in the pharmacy market. That was, the ACCC said at the time, partly because they feared the wholesale arm of the business would “have the ability and incentive to favour Chemist Warehouse stores”.