Uniphar to acquire Whelehan Group

Uniphar, the pharmaceutical wholesaler, has agreed to buy the Whelehan Group, a privately-owned distributor of medical, beauty, agricultural and garden care products.

No purchase price was disclosed but industry multiples would suggest the Whelehan Group could carry a price tag in the region of €45 to €50 million.

If the deal is approved by the Competition Authority, it will see the Whelehan Group change hands for the second time in six years. The company, which was founded by the family of former attorney general, Mr Harry Whelehan, was bought out by management in 1998.

This management team - Dr Pat Keenan, Mr Gerry Headon and Mr Gerry O'Neill - will receive half of the proceeds under the Uniphar deal. The remainder will go to the Barry family, owner of the Cork-based Barrys Tea company, which backed the MBO six years ago.

The Whelehan Group management will continue to work at the company after it has been absorbed into Uniphar. Dr Keenan, group managing director of the Whelehan Group, expressed delight at joining forces with a larger group that had "an excellent development strategy".

Uniphar as it stands holds about one third of the Republic's highly-competitive pharmaceutical wholesaling market, with the Whelehan Group thought to have a market share of about 1 per cent in this area of its business.

Pharmaceutical wholesaling is a high-turnover, low-margin business, as evidenced by the Whelehan Group's 2002 accounts, which showed an operating profit of €3.3 million on turnover of €93 million. The company said yesterday that turnover in 2003 had climbed to €100 million but did not disclose a profit figure.

At the time of the MBO, the Whelehan Group had turnover of about €48 million.

The company now has five operating divisions and more than 3,000 customers. A spokesman for Uniphar singled out the Whelehan's national distribution network for animal medicines as a new market for it. The Whelehan Group's complementary medicines business, Perrans Distributors, will also open a new market for Uniphar.

Uniphar, which is owned by some 450 independent pharmacists, had turnover of €408 million last year, up 17 per cent on 2002. It distributes healthcare products to community and hospital pharmacies as well as acting as agent for international pharmaceutical firms in the Republic.

Uniphar employs about 350 staff from bases in Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Sligo. The Whelehan Group employs 140 people from a base in the Finglas area of Dublin.