Alliance Boots “delighted” with Turkish expansion
Tue 27 Jul 2010
by Ben Sillitoe
Alliance Boots Executive Chairman, Stefano Pessina, says he is “delighted” his company has become the majority shareholder in Turkish pharmaceutical wholesaler Hedef Alliance.
The business revealed it has increased its stake in Hedef to 60 per cent, and it plans to further grow its ownership of the group over the last two years.
Hedef Alliance has consolidated revenue of around £2.4 billion, of which £1.9 billion is from its operations in Turkey and £0.5 billion comes from its ownership of United Company of Pharmacists in Egypt. It operates over 130 distribution centres and has more than 8,500 employees.
Pessina said the acquisition was in line with Alliance Boots’ strategy of investing internationally in strong companies in large and growing markets, as Turkey is one of the top 15 pharmaceuticals markets in the world.
“In partnership with [Hedef Founder] Ethem Sancak, we look forward to further developing Hedef Alliance and its businesses,” he explained.
Alliance Boots has held a 50 per cent share in the Turkish business since 2002, which has helped contribute to growing wholesale revenue.
In the year to March 31st 2010, revenue was up 10.3 per cent (5.6 per cent in constant currency) and trading profit grew by 17.2 per cent.
The financial update, which was published in May, also revealed Alliance Boots’ wholesale business improvement programme was “largely completed”.