The owner of Tamro Estonia, PHOENIX Group has acquired parts of the pharmaceutical wholesale and retail company McKesson Europe, thereby securing the position of the largest European pharmaceutical wholesaler and retailer. The closing took place on 31 October 2022, following the clearance by competition authorities of the countries involved.
In line with the purchase agreement between McKesson and PHOENIX of July 2021, the transaction includes the McKesson companies in Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Slovenia, as well as the European headquarters, a financial service centre in Lithuania, German company Recucare GmbH, and the minority stake in the Brocacef Groep joint venture in the Netherlands.
The acquisition sees the PHOENIX group enter new healthcare markets in Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, and Slovenia while expanding its existing activities in France and Italy. Following the acquisition, the group now has a presence in 29 countries, more than 45,000 employees, 224 sites in the business areas of pharmaceutical wholesale and pre-wholesale, as well as more than 3,200 own pharmacies and 17,000 partner pharmacies. Thereby, the PHOENIX group is strengthening its position as Europe’s leading pharmaceutical wholesaler, pharmacy operator, and service provider for the pharmaceutical industry.
According to the CEO of Tamro Baltics, Leon Jankelevitsh, being part of a growing international group gives a competitive advantage also to Tamro, operating in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. "The group was a European leader also before the acquisition, but now this position has strengthened even more and we are indisputably number one in Europe. This means that we are an even more valuable partner for the pharmaceutical industry, which also creates new business opportunities for us in the Baltics," commented Jankelevitsh. "Being a part of Europe's largest company in the field, we get access to new ideas that help to develop further our existing services and digital solutions for both wholesale customers and patients of BENU pharmacies and also increase the efficiency of the local organization. The financial services centre in Lithuania will initially continue in its current form," added Jankelevitsh.
About the PHOENIX group
The biggest pharmaceutical wholesale and retail company in the Baltics Tamro Baltics is a part of the PHOENIX group. The PHOENIX group, headquartered in Mannheim, Germany, is the European leader in pharmaceutical wholesale, pharmacy retail, and services for the pharmaceutical industry. The company operates in 29 markets in Europe, supplying pharmacies, hospitals and medical facilities with medicines and healthcare products from its 224 distribution centres on a daily basis, making a vital contribution to comprehensive healthcare with its more than 45,000 employees.
The PHOENIX group operates over 3,200 of its own pharmacies in 17 European countries, in which more than 195 million patients per year receive expert advice from pharmacists in addition to their medicines. The PHOENIX group also offers partnership and cooperation programmes to 17,000 pharmacies, including BENU pharmacies in Estonia.
