Pharmacy wholesale and services company NaviCorp paid €12.6 million to buy out its former executive chairman’s stake last year, after settling a dispute that ended up in the High Court.
The terms of the repurchase of the 24.6 per cent stake previously held by Simon Healy, who claimed in court proceedings in late 2023 that he had been sidelined at the company and wrongfully dismissed, were detailed in NaviCorp’s accounts for 2024, filed in recent days the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
That points to an overall valuation of about €51.2 million for Dublin-based NaviCorp at the time of the transaction in February last year.
Navi Corp is now 100 per cent owned by founder and current chief executive, John Carroll, through a holding company called Fonthill Pharmaceuticals.
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Navi denied Mr Healy’s claims when the case came before the High Court in October 2023. The dispute was subsequently settled in February last year, said court filings.
The latest financial statements show that NaviCorp’s revenue rose 1.7 per cent to €35.9 million, while its pretax profit soared 69 per cent to €13.4 million, driven by a decline in administrative expenses and financing costs.
NaviCorp also paid up a €17 million dividend to Fonthill. However, it is understood that the money has been earmarked for investment in expansion by the wider group, including in Europe, rather than a move for Mr Carroll to take money out of the business.
A spokesman for NaviCorp declined to comment beyond what the company disclosed in the financial statement.
Almost half of the company’s sales came from its pharmaceuticals wholesale operations last year. NaviCorp’s Thera Pharmaceuticals unit, which trades as Axium, is a leading Irish independent pharmacy buying group, serving about 600 pharmacies, many of whom are members of the company’s StayWell and CarePlus franchise networks.
The remainder of revenues came from customer sales support – including the use of its pharmacies order management and dispensary software – and membership income.
Dublin-listed healthcare services group Uniphar was blocked by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) from taking over NaviCorp in 2022 on competition grounds. It was the first such prohibition in a decade by Irish competition authorities.
The price that Uniphar had offered for NaviCorp was never disclosed.
NaviCorp’s Thera unit sued Uniphar in May of this year, claiming its former suitor had breached an agreement and abused its dominant market position. Thera has had a brokerage agreement with Uniphar Wholesale since 2015, where it acts as an intermediary between its members and Uniphar Wholesale for pharmacy supplies.
Uniphar, which also owns and operates large Irish pharmacy brands including Life and Hickey’s, has strongly denied the allegations. The case is scheduled for hearing on October 14th, said court filings.
Mr Carroll founded NaviCorp’s original business Axium in 2009.
