Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) has made its first foray into the pharmaceutical industry with the acquisition of a controlling stake in Medispec (M) Sdn Bhd — a leading local pharmaceutical and supplement product distributor, based on an enterprise value of RM88.5 million.
Ekuinas chief executive officer Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir said the government-linked private equity fund’s entry into the healthcare and pharmaceutical space is timely as it looks to capitalise on global megatrends and demographic shifts amid the emergence of COVID-19.
“Apart from its large established distribution network across clinics, pharmacies, private and public hospitals, other key considerations contributing to our decision to invest in Medispec include favourable industry outlook, in-house brand with strong growth prospects, and healthy product pipeline.
These factors will be important in charting Medispec’s future growth plans, and we look forward to working closely with them,” he said in a statement today.
Medispec markets more than 100 pharmaceutical drugs and 30 health supplements under both prescription and over-the-counter categories, including medical application covering various therapeutic areas such as anti-infectives, antineoplastic, musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system and nervous system.
The company also owns Vitamode, an award-winning in-house health supplement brand, which features speciality products such as CoQ10 Ubiquinol, Mecobin, Lacidofil, Cognipro and Tumecap.
To-date, Ekuinas has undertaken cumulative investments in 42 companies since its inception in 2009, representing a total committed investment of RM4.4 billion, which facilitated a total economic deployment of RM5 billion together with private sector partners. — BERNAMA
