Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Air Liquide announces acquisition of a hygiene specialist in Brazil
Air Liquide has announced the acquisition by its subsidiary Schuelke, a specialist in hygiene and hospital disinfection, of Vic Pharma, a company operating in this sector in Brazil.
Founded in 1990, Vic Pharma has more than 100 employees and is the second largest independent player in the Brazilian hygiene market. It offers a broad range of hygiene products for disinfecting surfaces, instruments and medical devices, as well as antiseptic solutions for pre- or post-operative care.
Present mainly in the hospital and medical settings, the company generated revenue of around € 8 million in 2015. It distributes its product range to hospitals through a wide distribution network that covers the entire country.
The Group will call on the existing teams to pursue the deployment and distribution of Vic Pharma product lines, to which the Schuelke hygiene product lines will gradually be added.
Thanks to this acquisition, made via a majority equity stake (75%), Air Liquide reinforces its position in the South American healthcare market.
"With this acquisition Air Liquide Healthcare pursues the development of its Hygiene activity, extending its geographic reach to South America," says Pascal Vinet, vice-president Global Healthcare Operations and member of Air Liquide group's Executive Committee. "The Group thus strengthens its healthcare business in this region."
Air Liquide Healthcare supplies medical gases, home healthcare services, hygiene products, medical equipment and specialty ingredients. In 2014, it served over 7,500 hospitals and more than 1 million patients at home throughout the world.
The Group's Healthcare business reached € 2,570 million in revenues in 2014, with the support of its 12,000 employees.
Subsidiary of the Air Liquide group within healthcare activity and an expert in hospital disinfection, Schuelke has for more than 125 years, designed and supplied a wide range of disinfectants and antiseptics mainly at medical environments, to actively contribute to patient safety. Present in 80 countries through its affiliates and network of distributors, Schuelke employs over 900 people around the world, including 70 researchers.
11th February 2016