Estonian pharmacy wholesaler Magnum Grupp has made its largest investment in a decade, albeit for an undisclosed sum, after purchasing Lithuanian chain UAB Apotheca Vaistine. The company will now be the sixth-largest pharmacy chain in the southernmost Baltic State.
The purchase brings the total number of pharmacy outlets Magnum operates under its Apotheka brand to 48 in Estonia, along with 62 outlets it will now operate across Lithuania itself.
“We are working in Lithuania not only in the interests of growth, but also to bring there our top-level franchise solutions developed in Estonia, which give us a competitive advantage,” said Ahti Kallikorm, Chairman of the Management Board of Magnum AS.
Magnum has received approval from the Lithuanian competition authority concerning the takeover.
UAB Apotheca Vaistine reported a turnover of EUR 60 million last year, while Magnum already started trading in Lithuania under its Apotheka brand in 2019.
The Magnum Group includes 17 companies operating in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Belarus.
In 2021, the group’s consolidated annual turnover exceeded EUR 500 million.
The majority stakeholder is businessman Margus Linnamae, whose other business interests include the Postimees Group, publisher of the daily newspaper of the same name, its regional variants, and other media in print, online, on TV and on the radio. (ERR/Business World Magazine)