Sopharma Trading Completes Acquisition of Lekovit in Serbia. The Closing of the deal comes after the unconditional approval of the transaction by Serbian Commission for Protection of Competition
Sopharma Trading, the largest company by revenue in the Bulgarian pharma sector, announced that it has today completed the acquisition of Lekovit – the fastest growing pharmaceutical wholesaler in Serbia in the last 3 years.
By acquiring 70% shares of the Šabac-based company, Sopharma Trading becomes the majority owner and Dr. Dragan Petrovic – the owner of the minority 30%. This act comes after the Commission for Protection of Competition in Serbia has unconditionally approved the deal at the end of last month.
As previously announced, Dr. Dragan Petrovic will continue holding the position of the CEO of Lekovit, directly reporting to the CEO of Sopharma Trading d.o.o Beograd. Dr. Petrovic will also be a valuable member of the Management team of Sopharma Trading Jsc. Thus, the focus on close integration of Lekovit operations with those of Sopharma Trading Serbian subsidiary, will be ensured.
The new partnership will combine the innovative, large scale operations of the Bulgarian investor with the strong local knowledge and reputation of the Serbian company aiming at building a strong nationwide player in Serbia.
The union will also bring to the Serbian market innovation, world-leading practices and modern technologies utilized by Sopharma Trading in its homeland operations.
The short-term focus of Sopharma Trading & Lekovit is on preserving the value of the Serbian company and on developing synergies by successful integration.
“The acquisition of Lekovit is the first larger step of our regional expansion. Further on our plan is to develop the complete business model of Sopharma Trading as in Bulgaria”, said Dimitar Dimitrov, CEO of Sopharma Trading JSC. “Our main goal for the time being is to preserve the value of Lekovit. And we can clearly see that the people are this key value! I am convinced that the combined experience and capabilities of both teams and our extensive integration program, will capture in full scope the business opportunities and we will deliver our synergy plan. We will learn from each other and will grow together!”