On 28 April 2023, the Voigt Group and PHOENIX Pharma Switzerland completed the transaction for the 50/50 joint venture avosano with the closing. Under the umbrella of avosano the two companies are combining their pharmaceutical wholesale and prewholesale activities.
PHOENIX Pharma Switzerland AG and the family-owned Voigt Holding AG have agreed to establish avosano AG, a 50:50 joint venture combining their pharmaceutical wholesale (Voigt AG, Amedis-UE AG) and pre-wholesale (Voigt Industrie Service AG) activities.
The Swiss Competition Commission approved the transaction without restrictions on 24 February 2023. On 28 April 2023, the parties completed the closing of the deal.
One umbrella, three companies
Under the umbrella of the parent company avosano AG, Amedis-UE AG, Voigt AG and Voigt Industrie Service AG will continue to operate in the market under their traditional names and with their existing portfolios. avosano will not be operational. Therefore, for customers, suppliers and partners everything will remain as usual. In future, the group of companies will employ around 750 people, who will efficiently supply the whole Swiss health market with pharmaceutical products from their sites in Romanshorn, Unterentfelden, Niederbipp and Puidoux. As a full-range supplier, the avosano group will offer 40,000 items available directly from stock.
Pharmacies BENU SA and Pharmapost AG are not part of the joint venture and will be developed independently by PHOENIX Pharma Switzerland AG.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of avosano AG is Jakob Küng, while CEO Christian Fritz is responsible for operations.
Highly beneficial for customers, suppliers and partners
The avosano Group will be an optimally positioned Swiss player in pharmaceutical wholesale and pre-wholesale with an expected total turnover of approximately CHF 1.7 billion. The company will operate as a solid number 2 in pharmaceutical wholesale (market share of approximately 35 percent) and pre-wholesale (market share of approximately 40 percent) in the Swiss healthcare market.
The joint venture will offer benefits to stakeholders at all levels through an optimal combination of know-how and capabilities: For example, the companies' product and service ranges will be combined, they will benefit from mutual knowledge transfer and achieve more efficient market coverage. In this way, avosano AG will be even more competitive in the future in providing high-quality, efficient and innovative services to manufacturers, service providers and the specialist trade, taking special account of the peculiarities of the Swiss healthcare market.
Detailed implementation planning begins now
Until the closing, Amedis-UE AG and Voigt AG as well as Voigt Industrie Service AG were in a competitive relationship and not allowed to exchange competitively sensitive information. As a result, detailed planning is beginning only now. A support team under the leadership of the CEO will plan and coordinate the cooperation of the companies under the umbrella of avosano AG in the coming months. avosano AG will provide timely information on the next steps.