December 17 (SeeNews) - Romanian privately-owned medical services group MedLife [BSE:M] said on Thursday that it acquired a 75% stake in Bucharest-based drugs distributor Pharmachem Distributie.
The deal is MedLife's largest acquisition this year and the first in the pharma sector, the group said in a filing with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB.
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The value of the deal was not disclosed.
"We believe that this [the pharma] segment will have a very important contribution to economic recovery and the population’s health maintenance in the next years," MedLife Group CEO and president Mihai Marcu said.
"Regarding the integration of Pharmachem in MedLife group, we plan [to take action in] two directions: first, the optimisation of the drug procurement system at group level, through our own pharmacies network - PharmaLife Med, and the 12 hospitals within the group. And secondly, the development of the clickpharm.ro online pharmacy area, but also new digitisation projects that will bring the right medicine closer to the patient," Marcu added.
The transaction is pending approval by Romania's anti-trust body.
"We are happy with this partnership and with the fact that we can be part of MedLife group. For us, it is a great opportunity for expansion and development because we will join a solid and complex organisational structure governed by a market-leading company," Pharmachem general manager Mihai Tirli said.
Pharmachem was established 16 years ago and has an extensive network of warehouses in Bucharest and across the country. In 2019, the distribution company booked a turnover of 83.4 million lei, up by 30% compared to the previous year.
Following the acquisition of Pharmachem Distribution, MedLife group portfolio numbers 28 companies.
MedLife's shares traded 3.82% higher at 51.6 lei ($12.96/10.6 euro) on the Bucharest Stock Exchange as at 1224 CET on Thursday.
(1 euro=4.8697 lei)