Swedbank and SEB granted EUR 185 million loan to Euroapotheca

26 July 2018

Euroapotheca – the international group of companies managing retail pharmacy chains and wholesale pharmacies in Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine signed the agreement with two banks − Swedbank and SEB − for the funding in the amount of EUR 185 million. The organiser of the syndicated loan – Swedbank in Lithuania granted the loan of EUR 50 million, Swedbank in Sweden – EUR 42.5 million, SEB in Lithuania – EUR 50 million, and SEB in Sweden – EUR 42.5 million. The purpose of the loan is the funding of investments abroad and refinancing of the shareholder’s loans.

‘Acquisition of the pharmacy chain Apoteksgruppen in Sweden is one of the largest foreign direct investments of the Lithuanian business abroad. We are glad to have successfully accomplished the acquisition transactions in a really short time and to start operations in the Swedish market without any disturbances. For this purpose we needed strong financial partners and both these banks became the ones’, − says Raimonda Kižienė, the Board Chairwoman of Euroapotheca and Apoteksgruppen.

The entry of Euroapotheca in the Scandinavian market testifies to the maturity of the Lithuanian business and is an excellent example how business of a small country can achieve such outstanding results – the company is growing into an increasingly more important regional market player. We, in our turn, are happy to be able to help the business grow. Swedbank has long-year experience in the acquisition and international transactions which we are ready to share as the Lithuanian business develops in foreign markets. The participation of Swedish banks in the syndicate has also contributed to ensuring maximum transparency of realisation of the transaction’, − says Swedbank Business Customer Service Manager Antanas Sagatauskas.

“This foreign acquisition finalized by the Lithuanian capital company is rarely observed. Euroapotheca by its size becomes the fourth market player in the Swedish pharmacy market and serves an example of successful international expansion for other Lithuanian capital companies. A syndicated loan issued by the local banks demonstrates their willingness to provide financing to the Lithuanian business for the global expansion purposes, by drawing on international best practice and successful cooperation with financial institutions operating in other countries. The expansion of the Lithuanian businesses should not be limited to other Baltic and the CIS countries and should look for sustainable acquisitions in the Nordic and Western European countries aiming to establish new business relations. We believe that such expansion of the Euroapotheca Group to Sweden will enable it to adopt best practice of the Baltic and Nordic markets and to effectively use it for development of the retail pharmacy network”, says Vilius Juzikis, Head of Corporate Banking Division, member of the Management Board of AB SEB bankas.

Euroapotheca is the international group of companies of the Northern, Central and Eastern Europe managing retail pharmacy chains in Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Ukraine. At present, Euroapotheca group has 643 pharmacies operating in 6 countries with 3 800 employees.