Forum Topics There's money in drugs
Rudyboy
8 months ago

So nice to see Chemist Warehouse which started as a couple of pharmacies has just been offered $8.8 Billion by Sigma after a long and merry dance. The three founders will walk away with $700 million each. Just goes to show, it may take 50 years, but you don't need to list it to win the big bucks.


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Bear77
8 months ago

Agreed @Rudyboy - they've done very well and have been able to wield the power that comes from their very large market share in similar ways to what the big supermarkets do with their suppliers, although I don't feel as sorry for most of CWH's suppliers, especially the dirty Big Pharma companies and the "alternative medicines" companies like Blackmores and Swisse. I had noticed that their online arm, ePharmacy.com.au, started charging a flat $9.99 fee (or $14.99 for Express Post) for ALL orders recently - like a couple of months ago - whereas previously all scripts were sent freight-free, and all orders over $50 or $75 (at various times) were also free from freight charges. In the past few months it didn't matter if you put a $2 order or a $1,000 order in, you were charged the same $9.99 (or $14.99 for Express Post) freight fee. I had also noticed that a number of multi-pack discounts had been reduced over the past six months or so. I kinda got the impression they were switching from "market share building" mode to "maximising profits without losing too many customers" mode - and that makes a lot of sense in the context of this sale.

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