Following an inquiry, the antitrust watchdog found the operation generates overlapping on the retail and wholesale market of pharmaceuticals and parapharmaceuticals. This situation could have strengthened Glebi Holdings PLC’s position on the pharmaceuticals and parapharmaceuticals retail market.
Therefore, the transaction was approved on condition of fulfilling the commitments undertaken voluntarily by Glebi Holdings. Thus, Glebi undertook to transfer 18 Arta pharmacies, the watchdog said in a statement.
The watchdog’s inquiry concluded that following the commitments undertaken by the parties involved, the economic concentration operation no longer poses significant obstacles in terms of actual competition, especially by creating or consolidating a dominant position on relevant markets.
Glebi Holdings PLC is part of Penta Group, which operates in Romania in the gambling and medical sectors. In the medical sector, Penta Group operates in the wholesale and retail trade of pharmaceuticals and parapharmaceuticals. Pharmaceutical retail activities are carried out through Arta pharmacies.
A&D Pharma Holdings NV is part of A&D Pharma Group, which is active in the medical sector. A&D Pharma Group is vertically integrated, providing production, distribution and retail services of pharmaceuticals and parapharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical retail activities are carried out through Sensiblu and Punkt pharmacies.
RTPR Allen & Overy lawyers provided consulting services to A&D Pharma shareholders throughout the group’s sale process towards pharmacy chain Dr. Max held by Penta Investments. The transaction was signed at the end of 2017 and completed last Thursday (April 19)in Amsterdam. It is the 45th transaction completed by the M&A (mergers and acquisitions) team of RTPR Allen & Overy in the last four years.