The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) has captures a 49% stake in leading pharma chain El Ezaby Pharmacy, El Ezaby Chairman Ahmed El Ezaby said in a televised interview last night.
The investment will enable the company to roughly double its branch count to 600, he told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib without disclosing the size of the SFE’s investment.
The SFE’s healthcare sub fund and private equity firm B Investments are setting up a pharma logistics and distribution firm in partnership with El Ezaby, according to a joint press release.
The new firm, EZ International, will offer everything from logistics and administrative support to trade and distribution services to local pharma companies, according to the statement. It will first roll out to El Ezaby’s 250+ branches nationwide before expanding to another 250 local pharmacies.
However, the statement didn’t disclose the size of the partners’ initial investments and respective stakes in the new venture, but said that the two “are moving ahead with a two-year capital increase plan” to support the new company.
We look forward to working together closely [with El Ezaby] to expand locally and regionally. Through this partnership, we offer independent pharmacies a new business model that supports their growth and business development.” said SFE head Ayman Soliman.
