When Big Corporations Go Public, Who Protects The Small Businesses?

By Dato Sri Dr Nor Hisham, PhD (Syracuse) – Organizational Behaviour,

The Big Caring IPO: Are We Building a Stronger Economy or Financing the Destruction of Community Pharmacies?

Malaysia must ask a fundamental question: Should we allow already-dominant corporations to raise billions from public investors to become even bigger, while small businesses that have served our communities for generations struggle to survive?

This question has become particularly relevant following the proposed initial public offering (IPO) of Big Caring Group Bhd, the company behind BIG Pharmacy, CARiNG Pharmacy, Georgetown Pharmacy, Wellings Pharmacy and Ting Pharmacy.

According to reports published on 29 May 2026, Big Caring was seeking to raise as much as RM3 billion through a listing on Bursa Malaysia. The group operated 626 pharmacy outlets and planned to open another 40 to 50 outlets annually over the following three to five years.

The proposed IPO involves offering up to 25.5% of its enlarged share capital, with some proceeds intended to reduce borrowings and fund business expansion. The Securities Commission Malaysia’s website continues to display Big Caring’s preliminary prospectus, originally published on 2 April 2026 and updated on 28 July 2026. As of this writing, I have not verified that the listing has been completed.

On paper, this looks like another Malaysian corporate success story.

A business grows, attracts investors, acquires competitors, expands its operations and eventually seeks a public listing.

But beneath the celebration of corporate success lies a question that policymakers rarely address:

What happens to the hundreds of independent pharmacies, particularly small Bumiputera-owned pharmacies, that must compete against a corporation with billions of ringgits in financial resources?

And what happens when pharmacies that have traditionally provided personal healthcare services to neighbourhoods are gradually replaced by large retail chains and online platforms controlled by a handful of corporations?

This is not merely a question about Caring Pharmacy.

It is a question about the kind of Malaysian economy we want to build.

1. When the Stock Market Becomes an Instrument of Market Concentration

The original purpose of a stock exchange is to allow businesses to raise capital, create opportunities for investment and support economic development.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that objective.

However, the consequences deserve scrutiny when an already-large corporation seeks substantial additional capital in a market where smaller competitors operate with limited financial resources.

Consider the difference.

A small community pharmacy might struggle to secure RM300,000 to expand its inventory, renovate its premises or introduce an online ordering system.

Meanwhile, a major pharmacy group can potentially access billions of ringgits through the capital market.

With such financial strength, a large chain may be able to negotiate better purchasing prices, offer substantial promotions, invest in advanced distribution systems and secure prime retail locations.

None of these activities is necessarily illegal. Indeed, efficiency can benefit consumers.

But the question is whether the cumulative effect creates a marketplace in which smaller businesses no longer have a realistic opportunity to compete.

Competition becomes meaningless when only the largest businesses possess the resources needed to survive.

A capital market should not become a mechanism through which established corporate giants accumulate increasing economic power while new entrepreneurs and independent businesses are progressively excluded.

The Government must distinguish between financing productive economic growth and enabling excessive market concentration.

2. What Happens to the Pharmacy That Served Your Family for 30 Years?

Imagine a small pharmacy in a Malaysian town.

Its owner knows the neighbourhood.

He knows the elderly customer who regularly visits for blood pressure medication. He knows the mother who needs advice when her child develops a fever.

He knows the retired teacher who needs assistance understanding her medicines.

The pharmacy employs local people, rents a local shop lot and contributes to the neighbourhood economy.

It may not have sophisticated advertising, an expensive loyalty programme or an advanced mobile application.

But it possesses something that cannot easily be measured on a corporate balance sheet.

Community trust.

Now imagine a large pharmacy chain opening nearby.

It offers attractive introductory discounts, membership rewards and promotional prices that the small pharmacy cannot afford to match.

At the same time, the larger company operates an online store that allows customers to purchase selected health products without visiting a physical pharmacy.

Gradually, the smaller business loses customers.

Its purchasing volumes decline. Its operating costs remain high. Eventually, the owner may be forced to close.

The premises might become vacant, employees lose their jobs and a locally owned business disappears.

This is a hypothetical example, not an allegation that Big Caring has deliberately forced any particular pharmacy to close.

Nevertheless, it illustrates a genuine economic risk.

What appears to consumers as cheaper prices today could, if competition deteriorates, result in fewer independent choices tomorrow.

We must therefore ask:

Are we measuring economic success only by corporate revenue and shareholder returns, or also by the survival of businesses that sustain our communities?

3. The Online Store Could Become an Even Bigger Challenge

The threat to independent pharmacies does not end with physical stores.

Digital retail introduces another dimension of competition.

BIG Pharmacy already operates digital shopping and customer services, while CARiNG Pharmacy offers online purchasing and collection services. The group’s wider activities include digital healthcare and distribution.

Online platforms provide convenience, and consumers should benefit from technological progress.

However, digital commerce also allows large companies to combine physical outlets, delivery networks, purchasing power, loyalty schemes and customer data.

A small pharmacy may serve several thousand residents.

A national chain can potentially serve customers across Malaysia through an integrated digital platform.

The disparity in competitive capabilities can become enormous.

The danger is not that technology exists. The danger arises when the benefits of technology are concentrated in a few companies while smaller enterprises are denied the practical ability to participate.

If the Government is serious about creating a digital economy that benefits everyone, it cannot simply encourage large corporations to digitalise while expecting small pharmacies to finance the same transformation themselves.

Digital transformation should democratise economic opportunity, not accelerate the disappearance of independent businesses.

4. Should Public Investors Finance Corporate Expansion That Could Destroy Small Businesses?

One of the most important questions concerns how IPO proceeds are used.

Big Caring’s proposed listing is especially significant because reports indicate that part of the funds raised will be used to repay existing borrowings and strengthen its distribution infrastructure.

According to The Edge, the group’s draft prospectus disclosed approximately RM1.3 billion in borrowings, with the proposed IPO intended to reduce debt and finance an automated distribution centre.

This raises a legitimate public-policy question.

When a large corporation borrows heavily to acquire competitors and subsequently raises capital through a public listing, should regulators examine whether the resulting consolidation is damaging competition?

An IPO is not automatically a government bailout. Money raised from private investors is not the same as taxpayers’ money, and proceeds from shares sold by existing shareholders do not necessarily go to the company.

However, when institutional investors participate, the consequences become broader. Pension funds, investment institutions and potentially government-linked investment organisations may be exposed to the performance and business practices of listed corporations.

The issue is therefore not simply whether an investment is profitable.

It is whether our financial system is contributing to a healthy, diversified national economy.

What is the benefit of celebrating a RM3 billion IPO if the resulting market concentration threatens the livelihoods of hundreds of smaller entrepreneurs?

Malaysia has spent decades allocating public resources to develop Bumiputera entrepreneurs through MARA, SME financing, training programmes and business development initiatives.

We encourage young pharmacists to establish businesses. We provide loans, training and professional support.

Yet these same entrepreneurs must compete against pharmacy groups capable of accessing billions of ringgit from the capital market.

Without appropriate safeguards, one arm of the economic system could be helping small entrepreneurs establish businesses while another makes their survival increasingly difficult.

That is a contradiction the Government cannot ignore.

5. A Market Leader Is Not Automatically a Monopoly, But That Does Not Mean There Is No Danger

The concern surrounding Big Caring requires careful examination.

Reports from September 2026 put the group’s pharmacy retail market share at approximately 23.6%, based on information associated with its proposed listing.

That is a substantial market position, but it does not establish that Big Caring is a monopoly or has violated competition law.

Malaysia’s Competition Act 2010 prohibits anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominant market positions. Being large, successful or even dominant is not itself unlawful.

Nevertheless, the Government should not wait until an industry becomes excessively concentrated before examining whether its structure remains competitive.

The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has already demonstrated the importance of sectoral reviews. In 2018, it published a review of the pharmaceutical sector, examining market structure, competition and potential anti-competitive conduct.

In February 2026, MyCC also published a review of the digital economy, examining competition issues involving online marketplaces and digital platforms.

These reviews demonstrate that competition policy cannot be limited to investigating misconduct after consumers or businesses have suffered harm.

It must also identify structural risks and recommend preventive reforms.

For the pharmacy sector, such a review should examine whether small operators face unfair barriers to medicine procurement, distribution networks, insurance panels, digital marketplaces or suitable retail locations.

The authorities should also investigate credible evidence of predatory pricing, exclusionary supplier arrangements and other anti-competitive practices.

This is particularly important when large chains are acquiring competitors while expanding their online business.

The objective is not to punish corporate success.

The objective is to ensure that success does not become the power to exclude everyone else.

6. Protect Bumiputera Pharmacies Before They Disappear

There is another important national dimension to this issue.

For decades, Malaysia has pursued policies to increase Bumiputera participation in business ownership and professional entrepreneurship.

Pharmacy ownership is one of the areas where qualified Bumiputera professionals can build sustainable enterprises based on their education and professional qualifications.

MARA recognised this opportunity through its U.n.i FARMASI programme, which was developed to promote Bumiputera participation in community pharmacy businesses.

The programme’s stated objectives include increasing Bumiputera professional entrepreneurship, business ownership and income.

But helping pharmacists establish businesses is only the beginning.

The real challenge is ensuring that those businesses can survive.

A newly established independent pharmacy faces significant operating costs, including rent, salaries, professional compliance, inventory, financing and technology.

Large pharmacy chains enjoy economies of scale that independent operators cannot easily reproduce.

If the Government wants meaningful Bumiputera economic participation, it must create an environment where professionally qualified entrepreneurs can compete fairly.

This does not mean preventing non-Bumiputera businesses from growing. Nor does it mean protecting inefficient operators indefinitely.

It means recognising that an equitable economy requires opportunities for businesses of different sizes and ownership backgrounds.

MARA and other government agencies should therefore expand support for community pharmacies through shared procurement, cooperative distribution networks, digital commerce infrastructure, working capital and professional development.

A national network of independent pharmacies could allow small operators to benefit from some of the purchasing and logistical advantages enjoyed by large chains without surrendering ownership of their businesses.

The Government should not merely produce more Bumiputera pharmacists. It must also help create an economy in which Bumiputera pharmacy entrepreneurs have a sustainable future.

7. The Government Should Put Big Caring’s IPO on Hold Pending a Competition Review

The proposed Big Caring IPO presents an opportunity for Malaysia to reconsider how major public listings are evaluated when they involve businesses providing essential community services.

The Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia have established responsibilities concerning listing requirements, disclosures and investor protection.

However, the broader impact of a company’s expansion on small competitors and community services also deserves attention.

My position is that the Government should seek a pause in Big Caring’s proposed listing, through any lawful regulatory process available, until an independent competition assessment has been undertaken.

This is a call for regulatory scrutiny, not an assertion that the IPO is unlawful or that regulators currently possess unrestricted powers to block it.

The assessment should be transparent, evidence-based and open to submissions from independent pharmacy owners, consumer groups, industry associations and relevant government agencies.

It should address five essential questions:

Market concentration: Would Big Caring’s proposed expansion or future acquisitions materially reduce competition in particular local pharmacy markets?

Independent pharmacy survival: Are smaller operators, including Bumiputera-owned pharmacies, facing structural disadvantages that prevent fair competition?

Supplier and digital-market access: Could the group’s purchasing scale, distribution infrastructure or digital partnerships create barriers for competing pharmacies?

Consumer protection: Would the proposed growth improve affordable access to medicines over the long term, or could reduced competition eventually lead to higher prices and fewer choices?

Use of IPO proceeds: How much new capital would actually enter the company, how would it be deployed, and what safeguards are appropriate if expansion creates significant competition risks?

If the assessment finds no material competition concerns, the company should be permitted to proceed in accordance with the applicable laws and listing rules.

If serious risks are identified, the Government should consider proportionate remedies, stronger competition safeguards and appropriate regulatory action.

This approach would protect legitimate investment while demonstrating that economic development must serve a wider national interest.

8. Small Businesses Are Not an Obstacle to Modernisation

The argument for protecting community pharmacies should not be mistaken for opposition to technology, corporate investment or economic modernisation.

Malaysia needs successful corporations.

It needs profitable businesses that can expand internationally, develop better logistics, attract investment and create employment.

Large pharmacy chains can contribute positively through efficient distribution, affordable products, healthcare accessibility and innovative services.

But Malaysia also needs thousands of independent entrepreneurs.

A strong economy should have room for both.

It should allow a major chain to operate alongside a family-owned pharmacy. It should allow online shopping to coexist with personal neighbourhood services.

It should encourage corporate growth without making independent ownership economically impossible.

The Government must therefore move beyond measuring economic progress solely through corporate valuations, stock market performance and total investment.

Those indicators are important, but they do not tell the complete story.

A nation can celebrate record corporate profits while experiencing a decline in independent business ownership.

It can report rising market capitalisation while local shopkeepers struggle to pay rent.

It can achieve impressive digital-commerce growth while economic decision-making becomes increasingly concentrated.

An economy in which a few corporations become extremely powerful while thousands of small businesses disappear cannot automatically be described as inclusive development.

9. Where Are the Voices of the Small Pharmacy Owners?

Independent pharmacy owners should not remain silent while the structure of their industry changes.

They must organise themselves through professional associations, industry networks and business organisations to present an evidence-based position to the Government.

Their case should not rely merely on fear of larger competitors.

It should demonstrate the economic and social contributions of independent pharmacies, the barriers they face and the measures necessary to protect fair competition.

The relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living, and Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, should work with MARA and MyCC to develop a sustainable community pharmacy policy.

The Government should also examine how independent pharmacies can participate fairly in public healthcare initiatives, eligible medicine supply arrangements, digital health services and relevant insurance networks.

Malaysia must avoid a situation in which essential pharmaceutical services become increasingly dependent on a small number of powerful corporate groups.

A healthy pharmacy sector requires diversity, professional standards, accessible medicines and meaningful consumer choice.

Most importantly, it requires small businesses to have a realistic opportunity to succeed.

10. Conclusion: Do Not Sacrifice Community Businesses for Corporate Valuations

The proposed Big Caring IPO is more than a corporate financial exercise.

It represents an important test of Malaysia’s economic priorities.

Are we building an economy in which prosperity is shared among thousands of entrepreneurs?

Or are we gradually creating an economy in which financial power, purchasing power, distribution networks and digital platforms are concentrated in a limited number of corporations?

The public listing of a successful company is not inherently wrong.

Neither is business expansion.

But when a company already possesses considerable market influence, the Government has a responsibility to examine how further expansion may affect competitors, consumers and the wider community.

The Government should not approve major corporate expansion unquestioningly while ignoring the fate of independent community businesses.

It should ensure that competition remains meaningful, that essential healthcare services remain accessible and that smaller entrepreneurs are not forced out by exclusionary practices.

The future of Malaysia’s economy cannot be measured only by how many billion-ringgit corporations we produce.

It must also be measured by how many ordinary Malaysians are able to own businesses, employ their neighbours, build wealth and serve their communities.

The small pharmacy in the neighbourhood may never be listed on Bursa Malaysia.

Its owner may never appear on the front page of a financial newspaper.

Its annual revenue may be insignificant compared with that of a national pharmacy chain.

But for the families who depend on its services, that small pharmacy represents something important.

It represents accessibility, familiarity, trust and local economic independence.

And those values deserve protection.

A country that protects only its corporate giants while allowing its community businesses to disappear is not building economic prosperity for everyone. It is merely concentrating prosperity in fewer hands.

Malaysia must not allow that to become the future of its pharmacy industry.

The Government should examine Big Caring’s IPO before permitting its proposed expansion to proceed without appropriate safeguards.

Because once independent pharmacies disappear, rebuilding them may be far more difficult than protecting fair competition today.

Let corporations grow. But do not allow their growth to destroy the communities and small entrepreneurs that helped build Malaysia’s economy.

This article expresses a public-policy position concerning market concentration and independent pharmacy sustainability. It does not allege that Big Caring Group has engaged in unlawful monopolisation, predatory pricing or other anti-competitive conduct. Any such findings must be established through evidence and the appropriate regulatory process.