Dis-Chem makes a few deals

JSE-listed Dis-Chem revealed in an interim results statement on Thursday morning that it is in the “advanced stages of concluding the acquisition” of a strategic interest in a healthcare insurance asset while also “investigating” the purchase of a community-based pharmacy group.

The Midrand-headquartered health and pharmacy group has decided not to pay-out an interim dividend for its half-year ending August 2020, due in part to its ambitious acquisitive growth plans.

Earlier this year it announced a R430 million deal to buy specialist baby goods retailer Baby City.

While Dis-Chem did not mention the healthcare insurance group it is eyeing, it noted in its results Sens statement that the asset has “specialisation in the design, administration, risk management and delivery of primary healthcare insurance”.

The acquisition target also offers “gap cover and psychological wellbeing”.

“Covid-19 has highlighted that individuals and companies are more prepared than ever to spend on healthcare and has also led to a deeper understanding of the importance of mental health, accelerating the need for companies to provide support to employees and their families,” the group added, as motivation for the deal.

“Through this transaction, the group will benefit from vertical integration into the health value chain, with access to a unique set of assets, in a sector of the healthcare market that is experiencing rapid and sustainable growth,” it said.

“All this at margins that are significantly higher than those in the core retail business. This investment also provides access to segments of the population who have historically not been covered by the private healthcare sector.

“In so doing it will assist in providing deeper access to healthcare to a wider and under-served community,” Dis-Chem added.

The group noted that the planned healthcare insurance transaction will build on other “strategic infrastructure and asset investments” it has made in prior periods, which “together promote economies of scale”.

This article first appeared on Moneyweb and was republished with permission.

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