28th July 2016 – The Vemedia Group announced today that its majority shareholder IK Investment Partners has reached an agreement to sell the Vemedia Group to an entity ultimately owned by Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP and which also owns La Coopération Pharmaceutique, a leading French OTC drug manufacturer and distributor. The Parties have agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction.
The combination of Vemedia and Cooper will create a European market leader in the OTC drugs sector. The two businesses are highly complementary, and will be well positioned to lead the further consolidation of the European OTC drugs industry.
Vemedia, the market leader of OTC drugs in the Netherlands, has been owned by the IK 2007 Fund since December 2012. With IK’s support, the Group has invested heavily behind key brands Valdispert (calming & sleeping) and Excilor (medicated foot care). Additionally, Vemedia entered the French market, expanded its export business, and completed six add-on acquisitions, of which Oenobiol and Stardea (both completed during 2016) are the most notable.
“During IK’s ownership, Vemedia has shown an impressive growth, both organic and through add-on acquisitions, doubling its sales and substantially expanding its product offering. It has been pleasure working with Yvan Vindevogel, Chairman of Vemedia, Rob and his team, and we are confident that Vemedia will continue its growth trajectory together with Charterhouse and Cooper,” said Remko Hilhorst, Partner at IK Investment Partners and advisor to the IK 2007 Fund.
“We see a good cultural and commercial fit between Cooper and Vemedia. The two businesses are highly complementary, with Cooper having a strong footprint in France, and Vemedia across the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Hong Kong. Together we will leverage our strong market position to pursue industry consolidation opportunities,” said Francis Doblin, CEO of Cooper.
“Recent organic initiatives and acquisitions have shown that Vemedia is a platform for growth and consolidation in the European OTC drugs market, providing a strong rationale for the acquisition. Over the coming months we will work with both management teams to integrate the businesses and identify further consolidation opportunities,” said Charterhouse.
“Thanks to the support from IK and the hard work of our employees, Vemedia has expanded significantly at the same time as improving the underlying performance of the business during the last four years. We are pleased with the opportunity to cooperate with Cooper under Charterhouse’s ownership, which will enable our continued growth and international expansion,” said Rob Drenth, CEO of Vemedia.
The completion of the transaction, subject to customary approvals, is foreseen on 30 September 2016.