EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Medicine, Mergers and take-overs

The Vilnius-based company, which is part of the Vilniaus Prekyba (VP) Group, said on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with the Swedish government to acquire Apoteksgruppen i Sverige Holding (AGHAB), a company that provides franchise and management services to 189 pharmacies operating under the Apoteksgruppen brand and directly owns and operates three Apoteksgruppen pharmacies.

Euroapotheca spokesman Arvydas Zilinskas told BNS that Euroapotheca is buying 159 out of the chain's 189 pharmacies. Three of these pharmacies are owned by AGHAB and the rest are owned by private investors who purchase franchise services from AGHAB.

The Swedish government says that Euroapotheca will pay 1,694 million Swedish kroner (EUR 170.7 mln) for 100% of shares in AGHAB and its franchise services.

Zilinskas would not say how much money will be paid to the private owners of individual pharmacies.

The deal is subject to approval from Swedish regulatory authorities. Once closed, it will see Euroapotheca become the fourth largest player in the Swedish pharmacy retail market with a market share of around 9%.

Euroapotheca has a chain of over 450 pharmacies in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine. The group last year posted 21 million euros in consolidated net profits, a rise of 12% compared with 2015. Consolidated revenue rose by 4.8% to 353 million euros.