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Tag: drug store

  • Big Caring Group’s Bold Move: Malaysia’s Biggest Pharmacy Retail Chain Gears Up for High-Stakes IPO

    Big Caring Group’s Bold Move: Malaysia’s Biggest Pharmacy Retail Chain Gears Up for High-Stakes IPO

    Big Caring Group, Malaysia’s premier pharmacy retail chain, is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO) as part of its strategic plan to strengthen its standing in the country’s burgeoning retail health sector.

    A Promising IPO

    Based in Kuala Lumpur and backed by private equity firm Creador, Big Caring Group aims to sell up to 25.5 per cent of its shares, amounting to approximately 1.88 billion ordinary shares. This information was found in a preliminary prospectus lodged with the Securities Commission Malaysia. Currently, the company has about 1.29 billion shares in existence; the remainder of the IPO will comprise new shares intended to fund future expansion and decrease existing debt.

    Expanding Retail Presence

    With a strong network of 626 stores across the nation, Big Caring Group continues to display its ambitious growth strategy. The company has plans to open an additional 50 stores within the next three to five years.

    Institutional and Retail Investors

    The structure of the IPO is designed to cater to institutional and selected investors; around 1.61 billion shares will be made available for them. Meanwhile, retail investors, which include company employees, contributors, and the general public, will have the opportunity to subscribe to approximately 268 million shares.

    Leading the Offering

    Maybank Investment Bank and RHB Investment Bank will spearhead the IPO as joint principal advisors, global coordinators, bookrunners, managing underwriters, and underwriters. Additionally, AmInvestment Bank and UBS will play essential roles in coordinating and underwriting the tranche for institutional investors.

    The IPO price and timeline have not yet been disclosed. The listing is pending approval from Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission.

    Questions & Answers

    What is Big Caring Group planning?
    Big Caring Group, the largest pharmacy retail chain in Malaysia, is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) to strengthen its position in the country’s growing retail health sector.

    How many shares is Big Caring Group considering selling in its IPO?
    The company plans to sell up to 25.5 per cent of its shares, or around 1.88 billion ordinary shares, according to their preliminary prospectus.

    What is the company’s expansion plan?
    Big Caring Group intends to open 50 more stores across the nation within the next three to five years. Currently, they operate 626 stores nationwide.

  • Long Chau Pharmacy sees revenues triple in H1

    Long Chau Pharmacy sees revenues triple in H1

    Long Chau Pharmacy tripled its revenues year-on-year in the first half-year to VND4 trillion ($171.38 million) and opened hundreds of new stores.

    It increased its contribution to FPT Retail’s revenues from 15 percent to nearly 30 percent in the period.

    At the end of June, Long Chau had 678 pharmacies, 278 more than at the beginning of the year.

    FPT Retail, a subsidiary of tech giant FPT, expects the pharmacy chain to make a profit of VND50-100 billion this year.

    Another major contributor to FPT Retail’s revenues is electronics retailer FPTShop, which saw revenues rise by 31 percent to VND10 trillion.

  • Dairy Farm sells Rose Pharmacy chain to Robinson Retail

    Dairy Farm sells Rose Pharmacy chain to Robinson Retail

    Listed Robinsons Retail Holdings reported on Friday that it acquired local drugstore chain Rose Pharmacy Inc. through its subsidiary South Star Drug Inc.

    In a disclosure, the Gokongwei-led retailer said South Star Drug and Dairy Farm International Holdings Inc. subsidiary Mulgrave Corp. B.V. (MCBV) signed a share purchase agreement to buy Rose Pharmacy.

    Dairy Farm acquired a 49-percent share in Rose Pharmacy in 2015 before increasing it to 100 percent in November 2018.

    “I am delighted that Rose Pharmacy will be part of our portfolio as it takes us back to our hometown in Cebu, where my father and JG Summit Holdings and RRHI founder John Gokongwei Jr. started as an entrepreneur. Mr. John also admired Rose Pharmacy for its strong brand reputation in the Visayas and Mindanao,” Robinsons Retail President and Chief Executive Officer Robina Gokongwei-Pe said in the disclosure.

    “The deal also further bolsters our strategic partnership with Dairy Farm to strengthen our position in Philippine multiformat retailing. We first worked with Dairy Farm for the acquisition of Rustan Supercenters Inc. in 2018, which deepened our footprint in the premium supermarket space. Our acquisition of Rose Pharmacy yet again offers ripe opportunities for innovation through strategic synergies,” she added.

    Rose Pharmacy was established as a family-run drugstore in Cebu City in 1952. It generated P9 billion in net sales last year and has over 300 branches in the Visayas and Mindanao.

    “Rose Pharmacy is a very strategic addition to our drugstore portfolio with its highly regarded brand in VisMin and complementary network to South Star Drug’s strong presence in Luzon and Metro Manila,” South Star Drug Managing Director David Goh said.

    “Together, we can leverage our scale and synergies to drive wider product assortment, better customer service and offer greater value to our customers across Philippines when they need it most,” he added.

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  • Mannings opens pharmacies for public hospital medication collection

    Mannings opens pharmacies for public hospital medication collection

    Health-and-beauty retailer Mannings has partnered with seven Hong Kong public hospitals to allow local residents to collect their prescribed medicines at its in-store pharmacies in a significant pivot from their usual role.

    The company says the move is part of its broader Covid-19 initiative to provide peace of mind for its consumers by helping reduce the risk of infection from hospital visits.

    Once patients have their application and prescription confirmed at a specialist out-patient clinic, the consumer can visit a registered pharmacist at a designated Mannings store to request collection.

    Mannings will charge HK$50 for medication collection and provide a consultation to review the patient’s medication history before assigning appointed personnel to collect the medicine from the public hospital to deliver back to the store.

    The seven hospitals are Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, United Christian Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital and Tuen Mun Hospital.

    The Mannings service is available only to patients at Specialist Out-Patient Clinics and for their regular medicine only. Refrigerated drugs or other medicines that require special handling are excluded.

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  • Chinese pharmaceutical group may bid for ailing GNC

    Chinese pharmaceutical group may bid for ailing GNC

    Chinese firm Harbin Pharmaceutical Group is poised to take over and privatize US vitamin and retailer supplier GNC.

    The firm acquired a 40-per-cent shareholding in the company last year, initiating an e-commerce business in joint venture with GNC in China. Harbin currently owns its stake as convertible preferred shares.

    The potential takeover is complicated by GNC’s heavy debt load, which four months ago stood at US$900 million, and the current political climate between China and the US. GNC has lost more than half its value over the past year.

    GNC operates more than 4800 stores in the US and has franchises in 46 international territories. It is expected to shutter 900 outlets by the end of next year.

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  • Boots store of the future opens in London

    Boots store of the future opens in London

    Boots has launched its new format store in Covent Garden, foreshadowing expected upgrades in its international operations.

    The new format’s “Beauty and Wellness Halls” will introduce more than 300 brands, as well as innovative experiences and access to expert advice. They also feature Instagram points and two beauty studios.

    Covent Garden is now also home to Boots’ biggest-ever wellness range, with 32 new brands including Beauty Kitchen and Equi. There is a rehydration point for refilling water bottles and an Innocent bar for customers to pick up snacks, as well as express pickup lanes, extra advice and consultation spaces in the pharmacy section.

    This new opening has created 130 new jobs within the 28,524sqft store. No single-use plastic bags are being used on the premises; they have been replaced with unbleached paper bags in line with the firm’s commitment to reduce plastic use globally by more than 1000 tonnes this year.

    “Our new Covent Garden store starts a journey of reinventing Boots for the future,” said Boots UK and ROI MD Sebastian James.

    “The store is full of exciting beauty brands, ideas for living well and services to help you get better, all with the great care that Boots colleagues give. We will learn what people love and want from this shop and this will help us shape a blueprint for our whole 2500 store estate.”

  • Singapore to invest US$15 million on pharmacy industry

    Singapore to invest US$15 million on pharmacy industry

    Singapore has stated its interest to invest in the pharmacy industry worth US$15 million.

    “Singapore will use the three-hour service facility system in arranging the permit of its plan to make investment in the pharmacy sector,” Chief of Investment Coordinating Board Franky Sibarani stated on a press release received here on Sunday.

    Franky said the candidate investor company has a data centre operated in India with employment reached 12 thousand people in the world.

    The company employs 600 researchers and markets their products to 18 European countries and also more than 30 others in the world. The investor is the first company who utilize nano technology for pharmacy industry.

    “Its product is a medicine used to protect live cell from cancer and eliminate cancer,” Franky said.

    According to Franky, the company is interested to invest in Indonesia because the country has big market, added with other ASEAN countries.

    Indonesia, says Franky, need investment in pharmacy industry to boost technology transfer.

    The Board noted that the company also is a also a challenge to Indonesia, particularly the related ministries, to provide service for permit in a short length of time.

    “Thus, the coordinating board pushes the relevant agency to process permits in three hours as the investment will involved an amount of US$8 million,” Franky went on.

    The coordinating agency has met several Singaporean companies engaged in telecommunication, pharmacy, real estate and maritime sectors.

    During the meeting, the agency also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UOB Bank to promote investment potential.

    Singapore is one of the biggest foreign direct investment source to Indonesia.

    The country has noted Foreign Direct Investment up to the third quarter of 2015 at US$ 30 billion with 6,868 projects in the transportation, telecommunication, warehousing, plantation, mining, mineral and non-metal sectors as well as in the power generator sector.

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