In July 2015, Lloyd's announced the purchase of all 281 Sainsbury's pharmacies for £125 million in a deal that will transfer all 2500 Sainsbury's pharmacy employees to the company. In December 2015 the sale was referred to the Competition and Markets Authority for investigation, with findings to be announced in June 2016. The deal was approved and the stores have been rebranded as Lloyds. With the addition of Sainsbury’s pharmacies, there are now around 1800 LloydsPharmacy branches around the UK, employing more than 19,000 people. In October 2017 it announced that it would close or sell 190 of its 1,600 shops in England. It was planning to expand its use of digital channels.