DEAL DONE | Aeternus was the advisor of Orly Pharma in it's acquisition by GPW Group
Aeternus was the Corporate Finance advisor of Orly Pharma in the acquisition from GPW Group, an international specialist in pharmaceutical trading, backed by investor Silver Investment Partners (SIP). This acquisition allows Orly Pharma to continue its expansion within a strong international network. At the same time, continuity for both employees and customers is maintained.
The acquisition of Dutch-German pharmaceutical wholesaler Orly Pharma is an important move in GPW’s growth strategy within an attractive niche market. By integrating Orly Pharma into its existing structures, GPW further expands its activities in the Benelux region and strengthens its position as a prominent distributor of non-scheduled pharmaceuticals.
With GPW’s full acquisition, the former shareholders transfer all their shares. This ensures a smooth succession, with Orly Pharma’s locations and team remaining unchanged, preserving the expertise and customer relationships built up.
“With Orly Pharma, we are expanding GPW Group’s offering in the Benelux region as well as benefiting from obvious synergies with the German market. At the same time, our group is significantly growing with this acquisition, from around 50 to about 75 employees. We look forward to welcoming the Orly team and expanding both our portfolio and service offering this brings to customers over the entire group.”
Nick Rhys-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of GPW Group
“We believe that in principle, every medicine should be accessible to every patient who needs and benefits from it. We share this vision with GPW Group and we see our business in very good hands at GPW. Together, the companies can help even more patients more reliably.”
Former shareholders of Orly Pharma
Attractive niche market for specialist pharmaceutical trade
The GPW companies are international distributors of medicines that are temporarily unavailable or not (yet) licensed in the importing country and can be imported in accordance with certain regulations. In Germany, such imports are regulated under section 73,3 of the Medicinal Products Act (Arzneimittelgesetz). Clients include pharmacies, hospital pharmacies as well as pharmaceutical wholesalers. The distributor bridges delays in initial drug registrations or in case of supply shortages in selected markets. It also allows for patients with rare diseases to receive therapies that are not (yet) approved in their respective country.
The market for non-licensed medicines is an attractive niche segment. It grows steadily and independently of the economic cycle with 5-10 percent annually. One reason for this growth is the increasing development of specialty medicines (e.g. in oncology and rare diseases), for which the approval process can take longer in certain countries or for which approval is not initially seen as commercially viable due to the small number of patients.
“The acquisition of Orly Pharma is the next step in driving the growth of the group and expanding its regional reach. In addition to international expansion and the broadening of our product offerings, we will also consider further attractive acquisition opportunities both domestically and internationally.”
Philipp Amereller, Managing Partner of SIP
In this acquisition, Orly Pharma’s shareholders were advised by Aeternus Corporate Finance (Peter Joosten, Niek Jacobs, Peter Segers and Ingmar Schmid) in cooperation with Holla legal & tax (Remie Huijs, Sandra Voet and Çağla Kaya) and with Maran Tax.
“We are proud to have contributed to the success of this transaction for a leading pharmaceutical wholesaler, for which there was widespread interest.”
Niek Jacobs, Manager Corporate Finance at Aeternus
We wish Orly Pharma and GPW Group every success as they continue to build on this industry-leading partnership.
Over Orly Pharma
Orly Pharma originated from a pharmacy in Venlo, the Netherlands, which took the initiative in 1996 to make hard-to-find or as yet unregistered medicines available to the Dutch and German markets. Soon Orly grew into a prominent specialist within the Benelux. In 2007, the German entity Orly Pharma GmbH was founded, followed by the establishment of Orly Pharma BV in the Netherlands in 2016.
Over GPW
GPW International, based in Saarbrücken, was previously known as Lucien Ortscheit. The company is a leading international specialist pharmaceutical distributor, exporting medicines that are approved in Germany or in a third country to foreign markets. The original company, Lucien Ortscheit, was founded in 1963 in Saarbrücken and has grown steadily ever since. The company serves the needs of several thousand customers in around 60 countries.
GPW Germany, located near Hamburg, was formerly known as Juers Pharma. The company is a leading international specialist pharmaceutical wholesaler with a focus on the import of medicines to Germany under Section 73,3 of the Medicinal Products Act (AMG). The original company, Juers Pharma, was founded in 1993 in Hamburg and has since become an established partner for numerous German pharmacies and hospital pharmacies.
Over Silver Investment Partners (SIP)
Silver Investment Partners is an independent equity finance investor for medium-sized companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As an entrepreneurial, experienced and trusted partner, Silver Investment Partners engages in majority and minority interests in companies with revenues between 5 and 100 million euros, with a focus on companies with revenues between 10 and 50 million euros. The classic investment scenarios include succession situations, changes in shareholders, spin-offs of companies and growth financing. The investment strategy focuses on companies in the sectors of business services, industrial and manufacturing, software, consumer and trade, healthcare/medical, environmental and related industrial technologies with attractive growth and value-added potential.
