Air Liquide announces the acquisition by its subsidiary Schülke, a specialist in hygiene and hospital disinfection, of Vic Pharma, a company operating in this sector in Brazil.
Founded in 1990, Vic Pharma is the second largest independent player in the Brazilian hygiene market and counts more than 100 employees. It offers a broad range of hygiene products for disinfecting surfaces, instruments and medical devices, as well as antiseptic solutions for pre- or post-operative care. Present mainly in the hospital and medical settings, the company generated revenue of around € 8 million in 2015. It distributes its product range to hospitals through a wide distribution network that covers the entire country.
The Group will call on the existing teams to pursue the deployment and distribution of Vic Pharma product lines, to which the Schülke hygiene product lines will gradually be added.
Thanks to this acquisition, made via a majority equity stake (75%), Air Liquide reinforces its position in the South American Healthcare market.
Pascal Vinet, Vice-President Global Healthcare Operations and member of Air Liquide group’s Executive Committee, commented: “With this acquisition Air Liquide Healthcare pursues the development of its Hygiene activity, extending its geographic reach to South America. The Group thus strengthens its Healthcare business in this region.”
Source: Air Liquide
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