IK Investment Partners’ IK 2007 Fund is to sell Vemedia Group, a producer and distributor of over the counter (OTC) drugs, food supplements and medical devices, to an entity ultimately owned by Charterhouse Capital Partners.
Charterhouse also owns La Coopération Pharmaceutique (Cooper), a French OTC drug manufacturer and distributor. The parties have agreed not to disclose the financial terms of the transaction.
The combination of Vemedia and Cooper will create a European market leader in the OTC drugs sector. The two businesses are complementary and will be well positioned to lead the further consolidation of the European OTC drugs industry.
Vemedia, the market leader of OTC drugs in the Netherlands, has been owned by the IK 2007 Fund since December 2012. With IK’s support, the group has invested heavily behind key brands Valdispert (calming and sleeping) and Excilor (medicated foot care). Additionally, Vemedia entered the French market, expanded its export business and completed six add-on acquisitions, of which Oenobiol and Stardea (both completed during 2016) are the most notable.
“During IK’s ownership, Vemedia has shown an impressive growth, both organic and through add-on acquisitions, doubling its sales and substantially expanding its product offering. It has been a pleasure working with Yvan Vindevogel, Chairman of Vemedia, Rob and his team, and we are confident that Vemedia will continue its growth trajectory together with Charterhouse and Cooper,” says Remko Hilhorst, partner at IK Investment Partners and adviser to the IK 2007 Fund.
“We see a good cultural and commercial fit between Cooper and Vemedia. The two businesses are highly complementary, with Cooper having a strong footprint in France, and Vemedia across the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Hong Kong. Together we will leverage our strong market position to pursue industry consolidation opportunities,” says Francis Doblin, CEO of Cooper.
