Pharma company agrees €50m deal with firm
The deal, which is subject to Competition Authority approval and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of next year, will see Uniphar purchase the wholesale and pre-wholesale businesses of Cahill May Roberts, which is owned by German healthcare giant Celesio.
It will also solidify Uniphar’s position of second largest drug wholesaler in the Irish market behind United Drug, with a 37% market share. United currently has a 43% share of the market.
It will also have annual sales of around €900m. Uniphar employs 350 people but the addition of the Cahill May Roberts businesses will add 250 employees to the headcount. The Celesio-owned Doc Morris retail pharmacy chain is not included as part of the deal.
Uniphar chief executive Ger Rabbette said he was pleased about the potential the deal offers.
“As both an Irish-owned and pharmacist-owned business, it is very important to us to be able to sustain our business and our co-operative ethos,” said Mr Rabbette.
“It has become increasingly clear that the Irish market cannot sustain three full service wholesalers.
“This transaction will provide Uniphar with sufficient scale to enable us to better withstand the challenges of the market, including the patent cliff, HSE price reductions, and the impending reference-pricing legislation.”
Mr Rabbette said the enlarged business will have “a greatly enhanced customer base, broader national reach, and the most sophisticated fulfilment and delivery network in the country, putting the group in a stronger position to better serve independent community pharmacies”.
Meanwhile, United Drug, which issued a strong set of annual results yesterday, said it had looked at the Cahill May Roberts business before concluding that it was not the right deal.
It is understood that United was only interested in the pre-wholesale business, with Celesio wanting to sell both together.
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