Robinsons Retail acquires 300-store Rose Pharmacy

Gokongwei-led retailer Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) has expanded its footprint in the pharmaceutical distribution space with the acquisition of 300-store Rose Pharmacy Inc. from Hong Kong-based Jardine Matheson group.

Mulgrave Corp., a unit of Jardine’s Daily Farm International Holdings Inc., agreed to sell 100 percent of Cebu-based Rose Pharmacy, which operates mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Dairy Farm likewise sold its premium grocery business under Rustan Supercenters Inc. to RRHI in 2018.

“I am delighted that Rose Pharmacy will be part of our portfolio as it takes us back to our hometown in Cebu, where my father and JG Summit Holdings and RRHI founder John Gokongwei Jr. started as an entrepreneur. Mr. John also admired Rose Pharmacy for its strong brand reputation in Visayas and Mindanao,” RHHI president and chief executive officer Robina Gokongweipe said.

Rose Pharmacy was established in 1952 as a family-run drugstore in Cebu City with the goal of providing quality and affordable medicines to communities. Dairy Farm acquired a 49 percent stake in 2015, and jacked up its interest to 100 percent in November 2018.

At present, Rose Pharmacy is one of the leading drugstore chains in the Philippines with nearly P9 billion in net sales in 2019.

“The deal also further bolsters our strategic partnership with Dairy Farm to strengthen our position in Philippine multiformat retailing,” Gokongwei-pe said, adding that the previous transaction with Dairy Farm allowed the group to deepen its footprint in the grocery business.

“Our acquisition of Rose Pharmacy yet again offers ripe opportunities for innovation through strategic synergies,” she added.

This deal is seen to scale up RRHI’S drug store presence and complement Southstar Drug’s strong presence in Luzon and Metro Manila, said David Goh, managing director of South Star Drug Inc. “Together, wecan leverage our scale and synergies to drive wider product assortment, better customer service and offer greater value to our customers across Philippines when they need it most,” he added.

RRHI also owns a majority stake in the country’s largest generics drugstore chain The Generics Pharmacy (TGP), which it acquired from the Liuson family in 2006. TGP has over 2,000 branches.

Excluding the franchised stores of TGP, as of end-june, RRHI a total of 1,890 stores comprising of 262 supermarkets, 49 department stores, 222 do-ityourself stores, 512 convenience stores, 520 drugstores and 325 specialty stores nationwide.