Avicenna Holdings Limited

Cavendish Corporate Finance is delighted to announce the successful completion of the acquisition of Avicenna Holdings Limited by Juno Health Limited. Avicenna comprises 21 pharmacies, as well as a buying group operation serving more than 1,000 independent pharmacies.

The transaction proceeded by way of a scheme of arrangement and achieved final completion on 19 September 2019.

Cavendish Corporate Finance advised the Board of Directors of Avicenna on the successful sale process, led by Michael Jewell, with Shakespeare Martineau acting as legal advisor to the Board led by Keith Spedding.

Ian Gray, Chairman of Avicenna said:

“We are delighted that our shareholders have shown such strong support for this acquisition and voted overwhelmingly in favour at the general meeting. I would like to thank both Cavendish Corporate Finance and Shakespeare Martineau for their sound advice throughout this process. I’m confident that Avicenna will continue to thrive as part of Juno.”

Juno Health Chairman Richard Smith said:

“Avicenna is a well-established business delivering clear benefits to its members. It is one of the most recognisable brands among independent pharmacists and extremely well respected.”

The community pharmacies will be integrated into Juno’s existing chain with the buying group continuing to be run by Salim Jetha, Avicenna CEO. Juno plan for this to become the industry-leading buying and support group for independent pharmacies across the UK. Juno have considerable experience in the sector and the combination of Avicenna resources and expertise will support the independent pharmacy sector and improve membership benefits.

Michael Jewell, Partner and Head of Healthcare at Cavendish said:

“we are delighted to have assisted the Board of Directors of Avicenna in finding the right strategic buyer, recognising the value of both the retail pharmacies and the buying group / independent pharmacy support services operations of Avicenna.”