Uniphar seeking EUR 150m listing in London and Dublin

Irish pharmaceuticals wholesaler and retailer Uniphar announced its intention to raise up to €150m by placing new ordinary shares, and to seek admission of all of its shares to trading on the AIM and Euronext Growth markets of the London Stock Exchange and Euronext Dublin on Monday.

The company said that in 2018, it generated revenue of €1.55bn, gross profit of €159.6m and EBITDA of €46.3m on a pro forma basis.

It explained that it provides pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers with an integrated offering, utilising its expertise and capabilities across commercial and clinical, product access, and supply chain and retail.

The directors said they believed that the integrated model was “particularly relevant” for Uniphar's emerging speciality manufacturer clients seeking to procure services from a single strategic partner.

Its strategy was to double group EBITDA over the five-year period from 2019 to 2023, by focussing on meeting the needs of speciality manufacturers.

In 2018, the group made what it called a “key strategic advance” with the formation of a medical device business unit within its commercial and clinical division, with the acquisition of Sisk Healthcare.

Following that, in 2019 the group reached another strategic milestone, which the board said would substantially enhance its product access competitive position, with an agreement to acquire Durbin - a specialist supplier of pharmaceuticals with offices in the UK and the US supplying more than 160 countries - which was expected to complete following admission.

“Uniphar has grown significantly to become a leading diversified healthcare services business, in line with our vision to improve patient access to pharmaco-medical products and treatments through enhancing stakeholder connectivity,” said chief executive officer Ger Rabbette.

Having transformed the business in the last 5 years, with two thirds of our earnings now derived from our international growth divisions - commercial and clinical, and product access - the group is poised to become a truly global provider of integrated solutions with a strong focus on speciality pharmaceuticals and innovative medtech portfolios while maintaining our leading supply chain and retail position in the Irish market.

“I am especially proud of what Uniphar has achieved and the team and culture we have created, and we are excited by the global growth opportunity that lies ahead for the business.”