MerryMart Consumer Corp., led by bilyonaryo Injap Sia II, has signed an agreement to take over Cecile’s Pharmacy, the biggest drugstore chain in Zamboanga, as part of its goal to build a network of 1,200 outlets by 2030.

Under the deal, MerryMart will acquire at least 51% of Cecile’s Pharmacy, which has 21 strategically located branches and over 300 employees.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, MerryMart said the current management team of Cecile’s Pharmacy would continue to run the operations of the 57-year old drugstore company in tandem with the MerryMart team.

The new deal follows the completion of MerryMart’s purchase of a 67 percent stake in Carlos SuperDrug, the largest pharmacy chain in Quezon provice.

“There are only very few drug store chains in the Philippines that has been operational for decades and still remain to be the market leader and the top-of-mind brand in their respective market region. Cecile’s Pharmacy chain is one of that select group that stood the test of time and we believe this acquisition will add great value to the MERRYMART Group’s ecosystem,” said Sia,chairman of MerryMart.

Sia said the MERRYMART Group would continue to be on the lookout for for “M&A opportunities in both the grocery and pharmacy space that would accelerate its growth to capitalize on the continued consolidation from traditional to modern retail in the Philippines.”

MerryMart’s current portfolio of retail formats include MerryMart Store, MerryMart Market, MerryMart Grocery, MerryMart Wholesale and Dark Groceries.

The group recently entered the 24/7 self-service lockers business where customers can collect and drop off packages without face-to-face interaction with couriers. Its goal is to roll out 5,000 of MBOX Smart Lockers to help achieve its goal of hitting P120 billion in systemwide recurring consumer sales revenue.

The post Injap Sia buys Mindanao-based drug chain first appeared on Bilyonaryo Business News.



Injap Sia buys Mindanao-based drug chain
Source: Filipino Daily Inquirer