The A$28 billion share market float of Australia’s biggest pharmacy chain Chemist Warehouse will create at least four billionaires, according to official documents.
Chemist Warehouse will list on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) through a merger with listed pharmacy group Sigma Healthcare (ASX: SIG) using a Scheme of Arrangement if all approvals are received.
The largest shareholders will be Chemist Co-Founder and Managing Director Mario Verrochi with shares valued at $7.1 billion, Co-founder and Chairman Jack Gance ($4.4 billion), Chief Financial Officer Samuel Gance ($4.0 billion) and Co-Founder and Director Damien Gance ($1.1 billion), and according to the Scheme Booklet.
Another five Chemist Warehouse executives and shareholders will receive shares valued at between $100 million and $900 million each, based on the Sigma closing price of $2.79 on Friday.
Shareholders in private-owned Chemist Warehouse will own 86% of the merged entity with their Sigma shares to begin trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) if the merger is approved by both sets of shareholders and the courts.
Chemist Warehouse shareholders will receive 6.32 Sigma shares and 44c for each chemist Warehouse share they own.
Chemist Warehouse, which was established in 2000 and is well known for its yellow, blue and red store livery, operates 567 wholly or partly owned pharmacies or stores in Australia, 50 in New Zealand,10 in Ireland and China and one in Dubai.
The Scheme is subject to the approval of Sigma and Chemist Warehouse shareholders at meetings on 29 January and a court hearing on 3 February with the new shares in Sigma to begin trading on the ASX on 13 February.
Jack Gance said that since 1982, he and his partners had focussed on building a business which had become today a leading retail pharmacy franchisor and owner of the Chemist Warehouse brand with a presence across all Australian states, the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, and four international markets.
“The transaction represents the next step of our evolution,” Gance said in the booklet.