November 10 (SeeNews) - Romania’s anti-trust authority said it is looking into the agreed takeover of local pharmacy chain Gedeon Richer Farmacia and pharmaceutical wholesaler Pharmafarm by pharmaceuticals distributor Mediplus Exim, owned by Central European investment group Penta.
In order to determine whether the concentration is compatible with the normal competitive environment, the Competition Council will consider the notified transaction under the merger regulation, the anti-trust body said in a press release on Wednesday.
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Gideon Richter Farmacia is part of Hungary’s Gedeon Richter group and operates 94 pharmacies in Romania.
Pharmafarm has been a subsidiary of the Gideon Richter group since 2007 and operates as a wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical and parapharmaceutical products.
Mediplus Exim is a wholesale pharmaceutical products distributor that is part of the Penta Investments-owned A&D Pharma, which operates the Dr.Max and Sensiblu pharmacy networks under Dr.Max Group.
In October, Dr.Max Group signed the purchase agreement for the acquisition of the pharmacy retail and wholesale operations of Gedeon Richter in Romania, the group’s legal advisor, Wolf Theiss announced.
In 2021, Mediplus Exim booked a net profit of 72.9 million lei ($14.81 million/14.9 million euro), latest data from the finance ministry’s website shows.
Gedeon Richter Farmacia and Pharmafarm, registered net losses of 59.7 million lei and 24.8 million lei, respectively, in 2021.
(1 euro=4.8919 lei)
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