New investment by an international company in Catalonia. The French parapharmacy and health and wellness products group Laf Santé has acquired, through its company Hygie31, the Catalan company Ecoceutics, which has 156 affiliated pharmacies in Barcelona, Girona, and the Balearic Islands that bill around 200 million euros per year.
This is the first operation that Hygie31, based in Toulouse, has carried out outside of France, but it is already the third acquisition the group has closed in the last year after the integrations of Cocooncenter in 2021 and Gener+ (Pharmacorp) at the beginning of 2022. These operations have been possible thanks to the financial support provided by the investment fund Five Arrows Principal, owned by the investment bank Rothschild, which entered the company's shareholding in 2016.
Hygie31 is the holding company of the Laf Santé group, which manages the low cost pharmacy and parapharmacy chains Lafayette and other brands such as Optique Lafayette and Médical Lafayette, with a total of 700 affiliated pharmacies, 52 opticians, and 24 medical supply establishments. The group billed 1.7 billion euros in 2021, up 27%, and also operates online through the virtual stores cocooncenter.com and parapharmacacieafayette.com. With the merger with Gener+, it incorporated the management of 400 traditional local pharmacies branded with Pharmacorp.
Ecoceutics was born in Barcelona in 2005 when a group of 27 university classmates decided to become partners and create a pharmacy group in the form of a limited company that would allow them to access better purchasing conditions and develop services that would increase the competitiveness and performance of their establishments.
"I am delighted with this new stage in the development of Ecoceutics and the growth prospects generated by the merger with Hygie31. Thanks to the experience that has made the success of the Pharmacie Lafayette commercial concept possible, we are going to strengthen the attractiveness of our brand and develop new offers and services that will increase the competitiveness of our current and future pharmacies," says Francesc Vilà, president of Ecoceutics.
According to Hygie31 in a statement, the objective "is to adapt the successful model" of the French holding's pharmacies to the Spanish market, based on "a wide range of products, affordable prices, and the healthcare function of the pharmacist as a close and trusted professional." The buyer will retain Ecoceutics' current management team, consisting of 18 people and led by Valero Pallàs.
"Thanks to this new acquisition, we confirm our desire to develop a true European healthcare ecosystem and our ambition to be a major player in the health and wellness sectors, especially in the retail pharmacy market," says Hervé Jouves, president of Hygie31 and Laf Santé. According to Jouves, "the Spanish market represents about 22 billion euros, a figure very similar to that of the French market, and both countries offer a very similar growth dynamic, between 3 and 4% annually."
In addition to becoming the first French group in the pharmaceutical sector to expand its model across Europe and access greater economies of scale, Hygie31 values that Ecoceutics will allow it to accelerate its digitalization process thanks to its "great experience in information technologies and back office management."
Digital transformation and the improvement of the value proposition of associated pharmacies by applying technology and data management has been Ecoceutics' main objective in recent years, ahead of growing in purchase volume. The chain has focused on strengthening the pharmacist's role as a health prescriber, relying on algorithms that allow predicting consumption and better managing stock, and on a loyalty program that allows increasing the average ticket of customers. In 2020, Ecoceutics invoiced 3.4 million euros for providing services to its associates.