The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7205 p7
6 July 2002

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GEHE (more)
Unicare (www.unicare.com)

Gehe agrees to buy Irish Unicare chain

GEHE has agreed to buy the Irish Unicare chain some five months after pulling out of a €152m purchase deal.

Legal action by Unicare, seeking to have the original contract enforced, was due to start in the Irish High Court in Dublin this month. The new deal now agreed is understood to include an additional €2m to meet the Irish chain’s legal costs in preparing for the court action.

The German group agreed a purchase price for the 29-strong Unicare chain last October, and the takeover was sanctioned by the Irish Competition Authority. But in January, the Irish Health Minister announced that pharmacy regulations were being revoked and the sector deregulated. Within weeks, Gehe declared it was pulling out of the Unicare deal, claiming it would be impossible for the chain to deliver on performance targets.

Behind-the-scenes negotiations have now led to a compromise. The new purchase price has not been revealed, but is reported to be some €30m below that originally agreed, and both sides have declared themselves happy with the outcome.

Gehe now has 46 pharmacies in Ireland, making it the largest chain ahead of Boots, which has 30 pharmacies.