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Deal of the Month Title in the
businesses, eventually growing them, both organically and through acquisition to a multi-million pound turnover group with a variety of interests from retail to service sector to property.
J Q Pharmacy Limited? Q
MSA Global is a family owned multi-national business headquartered in the Midlands. It is a short-line distributor of drugs, and market leader in grey imports with associated businesses in pharmacies and laboratory services.
Droitwich Pharmacy is one of the UK’s leading independent individual pharmacies and is in the top 1% by performance.
Q How is MSA’s acquisition significant?
This deal is an indicator of the shift in the pharmacy market (now the 100-hour
Once they had been vetted, I led the initial exploratory meetings which produced indicative offers for the business. This was both a challenging and rewarding deal with 14 parties bidding competitively for the business. Once an offer had been accepted, I worked in conjunction with solicitors for both parties to overcome the obstacles presented by the Due Diligence process, which included resolving some potential tax issues.
Q
Did you face any difficulties along the way?
We’ve worked very hard to ensure we identified any items that may be of difficulty
What more can you tell us about BCMS?
BCMS operates as lead sell-side advisor to shareholders and owners of SME and Mid- Market businesses, typically with a turnover between £1m and £200m. This year, BCMS celebrates its 25th anniversary as a UK market leader in the field of mergers and acquisitions; we have advised on over 500 successfully completed deals in the last decade.
What more can you tell us about MSA Global Holdings and Droitwich
MSA Global Holdings acquires Droitwich Pharmacy Limited
James Pugh - BCMS
Droitwich Pharmacy Limited, an independent dispensing pharmacy first established in 1978, was recently acquired by MSA Global Holdings Limited in a transaction managed by international advisor BCMS. Deal Leader, James Pugh, spoke to FM to detail the successful transaction.
ames Pugh, a Deal Leader with BCMS, is responsible for leading the negotiation and completion of transactions. An accountant by training, James previously worked City before starting up his own
exemption has been closed), which shows an increase in activity towards consolidation in the marketplace. With some pressure on margins, the larger businesses and chains are finding increasing competitive advantage in growing their businesses.
As one of the safest industries to invest in, the significant level of funding support (letters of funding received from at least seven different well known corporate financiers), indicates that banks continue to lend to strong businesses in secure industries.
Q
Can you tell us more about your involvement in the deal and the process
that led to its success?
As a Deal Leader, I worked actively with our client to prepare for the sale process. This included working through business plans and financial projections, coaching the vendors on negotiation tactics and valuation exercises. I was also actively engaged with our Research Team, who profiled 173 businesses as potential acquirers for the company.
later in Due Diligence. In this case there were a number of items, such as a complex and congested lease, which added difficulty. Many of the problems that can cause delays were solved by improving the legal documentation prior to Due Diligence. One key problem related to an unusual tax vehicle which had been designed to reduce Corporation tax over a number of years, unfortunately the vehicle proved inefficient, so we worked to fully ensure we understood the legal, financial and commercial ramifications, and through careful negotiation with the buyer and their advisors we found a solution that worked for all parties.
Q
Is there anything else you would like to add?
BCMS is active in the pharmacy space as this is a buoyant marketplace with significant opportunities for vendors and advisors alike. I am very proud of what we achieved with this transaction. The vendor was delighted, and he says it better than I could: “Traditionally in pharmacy there are three or four agents that manage company sales. I wasn’t confident that they would do a good enough job for us.”
Contact: Tel: 01635 299616 Email: mail@bcms.co.uk Web: www.bcmscorporate.com