Doha: Bestway Group has taken formal control of the Co-operative Group’s pharmacy business. This follows July’s announcement of the £620m deal. The Group worked with JPMorgan and Nomura, supported by Barclays, RBS and its other relationship banks to secure the financing for the acquisition.
Bestway, which has the right to operate under The Co-operative Pharmacy brand for a transitional period of 12 months, has begun developing and testing possible new brands for the business. It expects to confirm the new name for the business before the end of first quarter 2015.
In the meantime, the Group has identified a number of possible sites in Manchester for the new HQ of the pharmacy business.
Following this (and with the Group’s subsequent acquisition of Lafarge Pakistan Cement Ltd a week after the announcement of The Co-operative Pharmacy deal), Bestway will now have an annual turnover of approximately £3.6bn and a global workforce of 33,000 people, with over 11,900 people in the UK. It is the UK’s eighteenth largest privately owned company and seventh largest family-owned business. Along with The Co-operative Pharmacy, which is the UK’s third largest pharmacy business, the Group now consists of the UK’s second largest wholesale business, and both the largest cement manufacturer and second largest private bank in Pakistan. The pharmacy acquisition marks the latest move in the Group’s continuing diversification strategy.
Zameer M Choudrey, Bestway Group CEO, said: “We are delighted to have brought The Co-operative Pharmacy business into the Bestway family, adding an exciting fourth pillar to our growing and diverse business portfolio.”
The Peninsula
