Extensive consolidation confined to the retail industry in Russia

In recent years consolidation on the Russian market has taken place mostly in the retail, whereas there has been stagnation on the wholesale market. In Ukraine acquisitions in both wholesale and retail pharmaceutical distribution stopped because of the more cautious policies of companies during the crisis, according to the latest PMR report “Distribution on the pharmaceutical market in Russia and Ukraine 2011”

Retail much less concentrated than wholesale
Both the Russian and Ukrainian wholesale pharmaceutical markets are more consolidated than the retail pharmaceutical markets. The share of the top five retail pharmaceutical companies is 10% in Russia and 9% in Ukraine, while for wholesale sectors those percentages reach 70-80%. “However, wholesale segments are less concentrated than pharmaceutical wholesale segments of the Central European countries. In Russia, Protek CV, a leading pharmaceutical wholesaler, accounted for 19% in 2010, whereas in Ukraine BaDM accounted for 25%. Among the Central European countries, the largest wholesalers usually account for 30-50%, and the five largest for around 90% of the market.” Monika Stefanczyk, Head Pharmaceutical Market Analyst at PMR, explains.

Rigla and A5 the most active companies in terms of consolidation
In Russia several chains, including A5 and Riga, have recently been active in carrying out acquisitions, whereas in Ukraine only one, the Ukrainian Pharmaceutical Holding, has been involved in such activity.
Some examples of recent acquisitions on the retail market in the region analysed:

o The Zdorovye lyudi drugstore chain was purchased by Sergey Nizovtsev and Alexey Batulin, the former managers of the Natur Produkt Group for $40-60m (€29-43m) in April 2009.
o Some 74% of the Nizhniy Novgorod Drugstore Chain shares were purchased for RUB 466m (€12m) by Pharmcomplect in the first month of 2010.
o In the autumn of 2010, a Finnish group, Oriola-KD, made another step for its long-term strategic expansion in Russia. The company announced that it had purchased a 100% stake in the prominent Russian pharmacy chain 03 Apteka for about €12m.
o In H2 2010, the Protek Group acquired Panatseya, a chain of 20 pharmacies in the Leningrad Province. The transaction was thought to be worth RUB 50m (€1.2m) at most. Seven of the units are in St. Petersburg, and the other 13 are in the town of Sosnovy Bor.
o A number of mergers were completed by Rigla pharmacy chain in 2010. These included the acquisition of Novaya Apteka (six pharmacies and one optician’s clinic in Yaroslavl), Panacea (20 pharmacy outlets in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region), Biopharm (six pharmacies in Yaroslavl) and TK Toko (nine pharmacies in Novokuybyshevsk). The Protek Group acquired a majority stake in the Zhivika pharmacy chain at the end of 2010. In mid-2011 it was also announced that Protek pharmacy holding would consolidate the company's regional retail subsidiaries with its main asset – the Rigla pharmacy chain. As a result, the Moscow chain will merge with the following companies: Alfavit zdorovya (Rybinsk, Yaroslavl Province), Ortopro pharmacy chain (Chita, Zabaykalsky Territory), Medunitsa, Biopharm and Novaya apteka pharmacy chains (Yaroslavl), Dobry Aptekar (Cheboksary, Republic of Chuvashia), and Realty-A and Chudo Doktor (Moscow).
o Mosoblpharmacia was acquired by Invest Market, an affiliate company of A5, one of the leading pharmaceutical retail companies in Russia, for RUB 6,038m (€150m) from the Moscow regional authorities in June 2011.
o In May 15, 2011, A5 acquired Sotsialnye Apteki.
o In 2011 Doctor Stoletov has continued to expand in the Southern Federal district. The company acquired the Mir Detstva pharmacy chain (Shakhty), which owns 13 pharmacies in June 2011.
o At the end of 2009 another pharmacy chain without a brand name joined the Ukrainian Pharmacy Holding. A new rapidly developing social pharmacy chain project was later launched under the Dobry Liky brand name. This was designed to consolidate the Holding’s unbranded pharmacies under one recognisable brand name and covers Donetsk and the Donetsk region. In September 2010 the Holding was acquired by the System Capital Management Group.

This press release is based on information contained in the latest PMR report entitled “Distribution on the pharmaceutical market in Russia and Ukraine 2011” http://www.pmrpublications.com/product/Distribution-pharmaceutical-market-Russia-Ukraine-2011

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