CapMan’s buyout portfolio company OneMed Group will acquire the majority shareholding or 75 per cent of Hand-Prod Group, Poland’s leading wholesaler of healthcare products. OneMed Group sells, markets and imports healthcare products, healthcare equipment and laboratory products and will substantially strengthen its position in Northern Europe with the transaction.

Hand-Prod Group is one of the leading wholesalers of healthcare products in Poland. In addition to the mother company, the Group includes associate companies Homeofarm, Blau-Farma and Dia-Pol, which are all included in the transaction. Hand-Prod Group’s customers include public and private hospitals, laboratories, medical centres, pharmacies and pharmaceutical wholesalers.

The Group’s turnover is approx. EUR 100 million and it holds a particularly strong position in diagnostic and surgical products as well as in specialty pharmaceuticals for hospital use. The Group has also expanded its operations into the service sector and is at present building a network of dialysis stations in Poland. Hand-Prod Group employs 155 employees at the company’s headquarters in Warsaw and at six regional sales offices in Poland. Including Hand-Prod Group, OneMed’s turnover is estimated at approx. EUR 320 million in 2007.

”The Hand-Prod acquisition further reinforces OneMed’s position as a prominent healthcare and laboratory products group in Northern Europe. OneMed and Hand-Prod have substantial synergy benefits thanks to complementary product ranges and distribution channels,” says Ari Tolppanen, Chairman of the Board of OneMed and CapMan Senior Partner. ”Both Hand-Prod and the entire healthcare market in Poland have grown strongly, and we believe that this growth will continue with the ageing of the population and the increase in funds available for pharmaceuticals and healthcare supplies.”

Hand-Prod Group will continue its business operations as an independent unit and the personnel’s employment will remain unchanged after the transaction. The Group’s current Director General and one of the two founders, Boleslaw Kukolewski, will continue as the head of the company. Mr Kukolewski will hold a 25 per cent minority shareholding in the Group. The transaction is subject to approval by competition authorities and it is expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

In addition to the newly acquired Hand-Prod Group, OneMed Group consists of Tamro MedLab Oy (now OneMed Oy) acquired from Tamro Corporation in June 2006, Förbandsmaterial AB and SelefaTrade AB in Sweden as well as WL-Medical Oy acquired in Finland last spring.

Source: http://www.capman.com/En/Media/Releases/OneMed_healthcare_group_grows_significant_acquisition_in_Poland.htm