The Stuttgart based pharmaceutical wholesaler Celesio is selling its subsidiary and mail order pharmacy DocMorris and the DocMorris brand to Swiss pharmaceutical distributor Zur Rose AG. The purchase price is EUR 25 million, with additional impairment charges to the amount of approximately EUR 30 million required. Already this year, Celesio had written off EUR 120 million on DocMorris.
The sale of DocMorris is the strategy of Celesio to expand cooperation with on-site pharmacies through innovative services. The acquisition of DocMorris five years ago had led to an ongoing conflict with the German pharmacy customers of Celesio. By selling this, the conflict should be defused. Celesio will continue to offer customers the new partnership models for pharmacies.
Zur Rose was founded in 1993 as a wholesaler of 21 doctors practices. Founded in Frauenfeld in 1999, Zur Rose opened a logistics centre with an area of 4500 square meters two years later, and has since began a mail order pharmacy with direct delivery to patients.
Now, they have the purchase price sealed for the loss-making business, the predecessor of Pringer Markus Fritz Oesterle has stated. After numerous amortisations of the franchise concept, its once-value of over EUR 200 million is now only EUR 25 million.
The main reason for the loss in value may lie in the prohibition of granting a bonus to prescription drugs. Celesio failed to prepare DocMorris for the potential liberalisation of the pharmacy market in Germany. DocMorris had benefited particularly strongly from the price advantage of the reduction in prescription charges for prescription drugs.
Ob das in der Schweiz ansässige Unternehmen, Zur Rose, Erfolg mit DocMorris haben wird, darf angezweifelt werden. Jedenfalls hat die Aktiengesellschaft, die in der Schweiz ebenfalls eine Versandapotheke betreibt, bereits Erfahrung mit dem Geschäftsmodell.
[ilink url=“http://www.celesio.com/downloadblob/28542/307710/111_Ad-hoc-2012-10-25%20Celesio%20verkauft%20DocMorris%20an%20Zur%20Rose%20AG_PM_Download/data/111_Ad-hoc-2012-10-25%20Celesio%20verkauft%20DocMorris%20an%20Zur%20Rose%20AG_PM_Download.pdf?e=t“] Link zur Quelle (Celesio)[/ilink]