The minority shareholder of Magnit was against the machinations of Alexander Vinokurov

Prosperity Capital Management called the acquisition of Magnitom pharmaceutical "SIA Group" from the structures of Alexander Vinokourov a risky and unnecessary transaction.
09.06.2018
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Prosperity Capital Management, a minority shareholder in the retailer Magnit, expressed concern in its official statement about the possible purchase by Magnit of the pharmaceutical distributor "SIA Group" from "Marathon Group" Alexander Vinokurov and Sergey Zakharov. There is no need to buy a distributor who has lost market share in recent years, besides, these are additional costs and risks for Magnit, are convinced of the fund.

On the beginning of negotiations on the acquisition of "SIA" was announced on June 6, 2018. The deal was justified by the retailer's plans to deploy its own pharmacy network, and "SIA" is suitable for this as well as possible, they assure in "Magnet".

"We are deeply concerned about this development. Most of all, we are concerned about the fact that this is a transaction between related parties, "they say in Prosperity, adding that they will turn to independent members of the board of directors of Magnit to make a" balanced "decision.

The fact is that the seller of "SIA" "Marathon Group" is at the same time a shareholder of "Magnet". In late May 2018, "Marathon" acquired from VTB 11.82% stake in the retailer.

The Prosperity report indicates that "SIA" began to lose ground several years ago when it ceased to be the leading pharmaceutical distributor in Russia, and its share began to fall, reaching 5% in 2017, according to the DSM Group. At the end of 2015, when Vinokurov went to "SIA", becoming its co-owner, the company owed only lending banks more than 7 billion rubles.

The business of pharmaceutical distribution is very competitive, and its EBITDA margin ranges from 1% to 2% in recent years, Prosperity reports to the largest pharmaceutical distributor in Russia, Protek, which accounts for 18% of the market.

"There is no need to buy a distributor, take over its costs, keep a team and bear the risks of non-payments from other pharmacy chains," Prosperity said, referring to Magnit's plans to develop a pharmacy retailer. You can negotiate with suppliers directly and work with existing distributors, as other networks indicate in the fund.

"SIA Group" is included in the sub-holding "Marathon Group" "Marathon" Pharma ", founded in 2017 by Alexander Vinokurov and Sergey Zakharov, later their partner was Andrey Tyasto. It also includes the pharmacy chain Mega Pharm, shares of Sintez factories, Biokom, Bentus Laboratories, Fort.

Previously, it was assumed that up to 49% of "Sia Group" will depart Rostekh as part of a cashless transaction to combine pharmaceutical assets with Marathon Group, which was to receive a blocking stake in Rostekh's subsidiary, Natsimbio. But today the parties reported that "SIA" withdrew from the perimeter of the deal. The official reason: the logistics capacities of the distributor turned out to be "redundant" to meet the needs of the "Natsimbio".

So far, Magnit has 51 pharmacies near its stores in the south of the country. Previously, it was planned to open several thousand such points, but the development of the pharmacy direction was suspended against the backdrop of the decline in the group's performance.

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