Street Talk

Chemist Warehouse franchisees mull sell-down post $30b merger; banks circle

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Jan 20, 2025 – 6.57pm

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Chemist Warehouse co-founders, Jack and Sam Gance and Mario Verrocchi, have collected their awards and said their speeches. Now, it’s the pharmacy chain’s franchisees that are the hottest property in town for investment bankers chasing lucrative block trades.

Street Talk can reveal the owners of some of Chemist Warehouse’s largest franchisees have been in discussions with a handful of ECM teams as they mull selling down their shares after the $30 billion merger comes into effect on February 12. The blockbuster deal has ticked off most hurdles, including ACCC approvals and a testy independent expert report, and will be put to a shareholder vote on January 27.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones. Email Sarah at sarah.thompson@afr.com

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column. Email Kanika at kanika.sood@afr.com.au

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review. Connect with Emma on Twitter. Email Emma at emma.rapaport@afr.com