Nottingham, 2014-8-19 — /EPR Retail News/ — Alliance Boots today announces it has acquired full ownership of UniDrug Distribution Group (UDG), its pre-wholesale and contract logistics joint venture in the UK, from UDG Healthcare for a consideration of around £66 million for the 50% shareholding it did not already own. The joint venture is already part of the Alloga pan-European network and will shortly be rebranded to Alloga.
Ornella Barra, Chief Executive, Wholesale and Brands, Alliance Boots, said: “Acquiring full ownership of this successful joint venture will enable us to provide our UK pharmaceutical customers with a broader and more integrated range of flexible pre-wholesaling and contract logistics solutions, while further building on our investment in the Alloga network across Europe.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About Alloga
Alloga is a member of Alliance Boots and one of Europe’s leading specialist pre-wholesale and contract logistics providers, offering customers high quality, secure and robust services. It works with manufacturers providing them with pre-wholesale and contract logistics services to access wholesalers, pharmacies and hospitals on a pan-European basis.
About Alliance Boots
Alliance Boots is a leading international pharmacy-led health and beauty group delivering a range of products and services to customers. Working in close partnership with manufacturers and pharmacists, we are committed to improving health in the local communities we serve and helping our customers and patients to look and feel their best. Our focus is on growing our two core business activities of: pharmacy-led health and beauty retailing and pharmaceutical wholesaling and distribution, while increasingly developing and internationalising our product brands.
Alliance Boots has a presence in more than 27* countries and employs over 120,000* people. We have pharmacy-led health and beauty retail businesses in 11* countries and operate more than 4,600* health and beauty retail stores, of which more than 4,450* have a pharmacy, with a fast growing online presence. In addition, Boots Opticians is one of the leaders in the UK optical market with around 600* practices, of which around 180* operate on a franchise basis, and we have a leading position in the UK hearingcare market through our associate, Boots Hearingcare, which operates in around 430* locations across the UK. Our pharmaceutical wholesale businesses supply medicines, other healthcare products and related services to more than 180,000* pharmacies, doctors, health centres and hospitals from more than 370* distribution centres in 20* countries.
In June 2012, Alliance Boots announced that it had entered into a strategic partnership with Walgreens Co. (Walgreens), the largest drugstore chain in the US. In August 2014, Alliance Boots and Walgreens communicated that they plan to merge in the first quarter of calendar 2015 to create the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise, which will be named Walgreens Boots Alliance.
* Figures are approximations as at 31 March 2014, with the addition of Farmacias Ahumada data at the date of its acquisition on 11 August 2014, and include associates and joint ventures.
For further information, please contact:
Media relations:
Laura Vergani/Katie Johnson, Alliance Boots: +44 (0)207 980 8585
James Murgatroyd/Claire Scicluna, RLM Finsbury: +44 (0)207 251 3801
Investor relations:
Gerald Gradwell, Alliance Boots: +44 (0)207 980 8527 (UK)/+1 646 688 1336 (US)