The chain currently has 83 pharmacies in the city.
“We opened 26 pharmacies in 2012, all of them in Bucharest,” said Marius Andone, general manager of the company. He added Belladonna bought 10 Remedio pharmacies at the end of 2012 in a deal whose value was not revealed.
“We made the acquisition to expand our chain. We are constantly working to make the Farmaciile Belladonna brand strong both through business growth and through marketing and promotion strategies. (…) We are operating only in Bucharest and will continue to do so. If there are other pharmacies by the same name somewhere else in the country, that is just a coincidence,” Marius Andone added.
Rebranding is in progress right now and the company’s general manager says he is not interesting in buying any more pharmacies in Bucharest.
“Pharma Investment, an Icelandic investor, sold the pharmacies it operated in Bucharest under the Remedio brand. The details of the deal are confidential. It was completed several months ago. Remedio remains a franchise of the M Group and operates pharmacies in Brasov, Iasi, Suceava, Oradea and Targu Mures,” explained Radu Ioan Tudorache, M Group representative.
He added the owner of the Remedio pharmacies is the M Group (Montero Group), whose shareholders include the Tudorache family. It also owns the Remedio brand.
Belladonna’s general manger Marius Andone expects the chain to generate EUR80 million revenue this year.
“The revenue in the second half of 2012 reached EUR30 million. (…) Last year’s growth compared with 2011 was 20%, above the initial expectations. We expect EUR80 million revenue in 2013,” Marius Andone said.
He added the growth would come from the targets the company set for this year: the increase in the number of retail pharmacies and the price cuts.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)