Close acquires pharmaceutical firm for £22m

Guy
08 September 2005

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Close Brothers Private Equity has backed the ТЃ22m management buyout of IDIS, a market leading importer and distributor of unlicensed pharmaceuticals, on a named patient basis, into the UK and continental European markets.

CBPE is backing the management team led by managing director Natalie Douglas and supplemented by Nick Butcher, previously COO for DHL Europe, Middle East and Africa, as chairman and Robert Doe as finance director. The buyout will facilitate the exit of the founding shareholders of IDIS, and position the business for future growth.

IDIS’s core activity is the sourcing and distribution (with appropriate regulatory approval) of drugs which are currently unlicensed within a domestic territory from an overseas territory where they are licensed. IDIS, in partnership with pharmaceutical companies, provides these services to hospitals and retail based pharmacists acting at the request of the prescribing hospital physician.

IDIS has a database of more than 17,000 drugs. In several circumstances it has agreements with large pharmaceutical companies and established biotech firms, to supply and distribute their drugs on an exclusive basis.

In the UK, the unlicensed drugs market has shown strong historical growth levels with the number of notifications (approvals for unlicensed drug importation) issued by the MHRA (Medicine and Healthcare Products and Regulation Agency) more than doubling between 2002 and 2004.

In the year to November 2004, IDIS reported turnover of £41.4m and earnings before interest, tax and amortisation of £3.6m. The UK is the company’s largest sales market, accounting for about 68% of turnover. IDIS has also established growing operations in France and Germany.