How Private Equity Is Consolidating Independent Pharmacies

The Buyout Show with Fexingo: Private Equity, Roll-Ups, and Business Acquisitions · Aug 7, 2026 · 8m · transcript

Independent pharmacies are disappearing across the US, and private equity is a major force behind the consolidation. In this episode, Lucas and Luna drill into a single telling number: the more than 1,000 independent pharmacies that closed between 2019 and 2024, even as PE firms poured billions into buying up the survivors. They trace how pharmacy benefit managers squeezed margins, how roll-ups like the one built by Blackstone-backed BrightSpring Health Services are aggregating these small businesses, and what the playbook looks like: buy a foothold, add on, cut costs, and sell to a bigger…