RICH LISTERS SELL PHARMACY CHAIN
BRISBANE rich-listers Cathie Reid and Stuart Giles are stepping back from the billion-dollar health empire they founded more than 20 years ago to focus on investments in the technology sector.
After more than two decades at the helm of the Icon and Epic groups, the power couple who met as young university pharmacy students in the 1980s say the time has come for them to pass the baton. Ms Reid said the couple would step back from the day-to-day management of the group and sell the majority ownership of their chain of 28 privately-owned pharmacies to business partner David Slade for an undisclosed sum. She said the sale involved not an “insignificant sum” and is believed to be in the millions of dollars. “As you can imagine, this isn’t a decision Stuart and I have made lightly,” she said. “We started our working lives as pharmacists and I have been working in a pharmacy since I was 15. We are both filled with gratitude and appreciation for the industry that has provided us with so many opportunities.”
She said the couple would set up a “family office” called Arc31 to manage their investments outside of Icon, with a particular focus on the tech sector. The couple are already investors in USbased business-matching firm Hello Alice and are involved in the Israeli-based crowdfunding platform OurCrowd. Ms Reid said as their children grew up, the couple were also looking to travel overseas more and spend time on philanthropic interests.