Apollo Hospitals to buy Hetero Med’s pharmacy stores for Rs146 crore
Apollo expects the acquisition of 320 outlets will help consolidate its operation in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
Chennai: Hospital chain Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd has announced that it will acquire Hyderbad-based Hetero Med Solutions Ltd’s pharmacy business for ₹ 146 crore.
“The acquisition would be in the form of purchase of the business undertaking, on a slump sale basis, subject to completion of due diligence and other statutory formalities," said the healthcare provider in a statement to the stock exchanges.
The sale is part of the Hetero Group promoters’ decision to exit the pharmacy retail business, and focus on their core pharmacy and bulk drugs business.
Apollo Pharmacy, the largest organized pharmacy chain in the country with 1,680 stores, expects this acquisition of 320 outlets will help it consolidate its operation in the southern states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
“In order to drive the stand-alone pharmacy business segment’s growth to the next stage, Apollo was on the lookout for acquisitions to grow inorganically and considers the Hetero pharmacy chain as the right choice given its significant presence in the relevant territories," Shobana Kamineni, executive vice chairperson of the company, said in a press release.
Hetero Med Solutions reported a revenue of ₹ 160 crore and loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of ₹ 3.90 crore in 2013-14. The acquisition process is expected to take at least two quarters with other statutory formalities and regulatory approvals.
Apollo Hospital’s share rose 1.54% to ₹ 1,124.75 on BSE, while the exchange’s benchmark Sensex gained 0.29% to 26,568.53 points.
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