Investment analysis in the Health Care Marketplace sector. Promofarma and Pharmacius

From a corporate finance point of view, we analyse two acquisitions made last September. Zur Rose's acquisition of Promofarma, the e-commerce marketplace for health, beauty and personal care products commonly sold in Spanish pharmacies, and Aninver's majority acquisition of Pharmacius, a leading company in offering pharmacy and parapharmacy products through its sales online.

We take a look at the largest financing rounds that have taken place in recent years in the Pet Retail sector. In addition, we analyse Tiendanimal's investment round, with which it has received a €60M capital injection.

Zur Rose acquires PromoFarma

Zur Rosethe Swiss pharmaceutical company, closed last September the acquisition of the Spanish company PromoFarma for an amount that has not been made public.

On the one hand, the Zur Rose Group is the pharmacy online leader in Europe. Its mission is to ensure safe, reliable and high quality pharmaceutical care by focusing on the patient. It also excels in developing innovative medication management services to increase the efficiency of the medication process, while providing low-cost pharmaceuticals, making it one of the largest medical suppliers in Switzerland. However, Zur Rose also has customers in Germany and Austria.

On the other hand, Promofarma, founded in 2012, has built an e-commerce marketplace that brings together the catalogue of more than 500 pharmacies and other sellers on a single website. In this way, it connects online consumers with health, beauty and personal care providers. The business has more than 50,000 parapharmacy products listed on its platform and sells products from more than 3,500 brands. In 2017, the company generated a turnover of around €19M, up 50% from 2016. This growth is set to continue in 2018.

With this acquisition, Zur Rose Group gains experience in the technology sector in Barcelona, one of the five most important technology and innovation centres in Europe. As a result, Promofarma - owned by Atresmedia and included in its programme media for equity to boost the development of start-ups - offers a boost for international expansion, both cross-border as well as by country.

Aninver acquires a majority stake in Pharmacius

AninverMalaga-based consultancy and market intelligenceacquired on 24 September last a majority stake in Pharmacius for an amount that has not been made public. In this way, Aninver becomes a partner of one of the national leaders in the parapharmacy sector in e-commerce.

Firstly, Aninver provides services to public authorities, development finance institutions and private clients around the world in various types of consultancy work. It has a team of experts in management consulting, development, investment and private sector financing in sectors such as construction, infrastructure, energy, public-private partnerships, real estate, tourism and hotels, technology and knowledge platforms, entrepreneurship, private sector development, among others.

Secondly, Pharmacius, founded by Arantzazu Grediaga Ballestero and Ignacio de la Maza Alba based in Alicante, is a company dedicated to the management of marketplace online. Its business is based on sales through the shop. online of pharmacy and parapharmacy products. With more than 30 years of experience in the pharmacy, new technologies have allowed Pharmacius to reach more customers in the peninsula.

In short, it is a symbiotic relationship. On the one hand, Aninver's entry into Pharmacius' shareholding will allow the Alicante-based company to expand its business in the network, which currently represents a third of its turnover (just over €1.5m). On the other hand, Aninver will consolidate its growth and diversification of its business.

Analysis of similar transactions in the marketplace sector in the following countries Health Care

The following table shows five transactions carried out during 2017 and 2018 in the Marketplace sector in Health Care. The total investment of 158.3M$ received by Leaf Group, an American company that builds platforms across the market (Society6, Saatchi Art, The Other Art Fair, Deny Designs) and media (Livestrong.com, eHow, Hunker, Sapling, Techwalla, LeafTV) in order for its clients to reach their stakeholders, is striking.