In a cross-border transaction, the EBRD has agreed to buy a minority equity stake of around 15 per cent in Russia’s privately-held OJSC Katren, the holding vehicle for pharmaceutical distributors operating in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as a retail pharmacy chain in Russia.
The proceeds of the EBRD’s investment in the group’s newly issued ordinary voting shares will be used to develop Katren’s warehousing capacity as well as providing funding for possible future acquisitions in the company’s existing spheres of activity, both in Russia and the wider regional market.
Other financial details of this transaction were not disclosed.
Within its market, Katren is the participant with the broadest geographical reach in the Commonwealth of Independent States. It is the third largest pharmaceutical distributor in Russia, the company’s core market, which accounted for 86 per cent of the group’s consolidated revenue in 2010. It is also among the top five distributors in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
Prior to this deal, the Bank had invested over €300 million in the pharmaceutical industry in nine of the EBRD’s 29 countries of operation. In Russia, the Bank’s previous equity investments included Petrovax and the Healthy People pharmacy chain, The Financial reported.
