Natco acquires US retail drug store chain

Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, Natco Pharma, has completed the purchase of assets of Newark Drugs, a chain of retail pharmacy stores based in New Jersey.

Network Drugs was acquired by K & C Pharmacy, a US-based general partnership firm, in which Natco holds 75% stake.

This is the third acquisition that Natco had made since 2006, with the first two being Nicks' Drugs and SaveMart Drugs.

Newark Drugs clocks $5 million (Rs 20 crore) in annual sales. With its location adjacent to Nick's Drugs, Natco now seeks to achieve economics of scale in purchasing through this acquisition.

With this acquisition in place, Natco's revenues from its US retail business aggregates to over $35 million in a full year.

Natco has plans to acquire a few more stores to strengthen its presence in the US retail market, the company stated in a press release on Wednesday.