ALMOST 30 Hampshire branches of Pharmacy chain Rowlands are up for sale after a German billionaire committed suicide.

Banks are swiftly moving to sell UK assets of tycoon Adolf Merckle’s stricken business empire, including the Rowlands chain, in the wake of his death.

The 74-year-old, worth an estimated £6.1 billion, killed himself on Monday night after his business got into trouble in the wake of the global financial crisis. His business was facing a crisis triggered by heavy debts, combined with the recession and losses suffered on shares in the car maker Volkswagen.

In a brief statement on Monday, Merckle’s family said he “ended his life” and that the problems his holdings suffered as a result of the financial crisis “broke” him.

Banks including Royal Bank of Scotland are said to have granted a bridging loan to keep Mr Merckle’s holding company afloat, with certain conditions reportedly attached, including the sale of his Phoenix Group for an estimated £5.4 billion.

The Rowlands business has 29 Hampshire stores as part of a UK chain of 500 as well as Rowlands German based Phoenix the UK’s third largest wholesale drugs distribution business and a buying supply group for individual pharmacies, called Numark. Phoenix is believed to employ 6,500 staff in the UK out of a total European workforce of 22,000.