Member Article

Pharmaceutical wholesaler in MBO

Yorkshire and North East pharmaceutical wholesaler DE Group has undergone a £37million management buyout by managing director Mark Gulliford and financial director Andy Wilson.

The firm, which operares Prudhoe and Doncaster sites, as well as others nationally, employs 300 staff and is one of the UK’s largest national short line pharmaceutical wholesalers which have operated for more than 30 years.

Existing management and staff will remain with the company.

Collectively the DE Group consists of DE Pharmaceuticals which merged with Doncaster Pharmaceuticals in 2007, National Generics in the Midlands, Eclipse Generics in Scotland, Crosspharma Pharmaceuticals in Northern Ireland and Eurodrug in the Republic of Ireland.

Funding support was provided by RBS Invoice Finance who structured a £37million Asset Based Lending package and legal advice was provided by Sintons. DLA Piper advised RBS. KPMG’s corporate finance team advised on the deal.

Mark Gulliford, Managing Director at DE Group said: “As far as our customers are concerned, it is business as usual, although we’ll now be able to focus on improving the high quality service they’ve come to rely on and offer even better deals thanks to our unrivalled buying power. This is an exciting period for Andy and myself having both worked within the business for a number of years. We are firmly focused on growth and our ambition is to cement DE Group’s position as the UK’s largest national short line pharmaceutical wholesalers.”

Paul Goodchild, corporate development director at RBS Invoice Finance, added: “DE Group has developed into a leading player in their field and the growth of the business is testament to the solid management team within which Mark and Andy have played a key role.

“The sale of the business to such experienced and well respected individuals marks a key milestone in the firm’s evolution as it embarks on a new journey of independent ownership. We wish them all the best in the future as the team enter their next stage of growth.”

Christopher Welch, partner in the Company and Commercial department at Sintons, who led the team which completed the deal, said: “This transaction is one of the most significant deals in the North East healthcare sector for several years.

“From its headquarters in this region, DE Pharmaceuticals has become a leader in its field across the whole of the UK and Ireland, and I have no doubt that the business will continue to progress under the ownership of Mark and Andy. The team at Sintons, as specialist legal advisors to pharmacies, is pleased to have been able to complete this deal.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .