For the seller of a pharmacy or chain
I value the asset with a reasoned case, prepare it for sale, find a buyer and run the negotiations through to signing.
Selling and Buying a Pharmacy or Pharmacy Chain
I advise on pharmacy business deals: the sale and purchase of single pharmacies, pharmacy chains and stakes in them. I find the counterparty, take the asset's economics apart from the accounts and keep negotiations closed, so the market hears about the deal only after it closes. In any one deal I act for one side only.
Who needs deal advisory
More and more often the seller in Russian pharmacy retail is the owner of a single pharmacy or two or three outlets. According to DSM Group, a market research firm, the number of independent pharmacies fell by 600 in the year to April 2026, from 9,100 to 8,500. AlphaRM, another analyst, counted 189 deals in 2025 against 91 a year earlier; 2,110 pharmacies changed hands. The buyers are most often pharmacy chains.
I work with owners of pharmacies and pharmacy chains preparing a sale, with buyers who need an independent check of the numbers before paying a deposit, and with investors in pharmaceutical assets. Two problems come up in these deals again and again. The seller shows the buyer a presentation instead of the economics. And the market learns a sale is coming before a buyer has been found.
What I do in a deal
For the buyer
I check the asset's numbers before a deposit is paid, take its economics apart from the accounts, value it and support the negotiations.
For the owner of a pharmaceutical asset
Beyond pharmacy retail, I handle deals involving production sites, portfolios of marketing authorisations and equity stakes.
I do not give legal or tax opinions. When they are needed, I bring in the lawyers and appraisers I work alongside. There are no referral fees between us.
Preparing a pharmacy for sale
A buyer pays for sustainable profitability backed by numbers. So, several months before the sale, we put the asset's economics in order:
Loss-making outlets.
Contracts with manufacturers.
Inventory.
Management accounts.
By the time the seller meets a buyer, they have transparent reporting, a business with no loss-making lines and a price supported by figures.
What the buyer checks and what comes off the price
The buyer starts with the pharmacy's surroundings: competitors within 500 metres and other players' opening plans for the coming year. Next come 24 months of receipt dynamics and the team: whether the manager and staff will stay, and on what terms. The accounts are opened last, and the first thing the buyer looks at there is the inventory.
After due diligence the buyer recalculates the price. It is affected by:
Inventory: whether it is included in the price or paid on top, and whether it is valued at cost or by stock count.
Working capital: the pharmacy's own or the distributor's.
Discrepancies in MDLP, Russia's drug track-and-trace system, which since June 2025 the permit-based checkout regime exposes right at the till.
A lease shorter than 2 years.
Dead stock.
Normalisation of payroll.
The last point hits the owner of a single pharmacy hardest. If the owner works the counter personally, the buyer will put a market salary into the costs. With a 12-hour, 7-day schedule, one counter position takes 2 pharmacists in shifts, and both salaries plus social contributions go into the calculation.
The form of the deal also affects the price. A pharmacy chain is usually bought as a legal entity. A single pharmacy is more often bought as assets: the lease, the equipment, the stock, the staff. The pharmacy licence does not transfer in that case; the buyer obtains a new one for their own legal entity and address, and re-signing the lease requires the landlord's consent.
How the work goes
A 30–40 minute conversation
I go through the task and say whether I can help and whether it is worth taking on now.
Checking the parties
Before accepting a mandate, I check the parties to the deal against open sources: sanctions and restrictive lists, and signs of nominee ownership. If there are risk indicators, I decline the deal.
Non-disclosure agreement
We sign it before you send the first data extract.
Work under the mandate
Finding the counterparty, valuing the asset, negotiating and supporting the deal through to signing.
What the owner gets
The owner gets an independent valuation of the asset before a deposit is paid, a long list and a short list of counterparties, a deal structure and support in negotiations through to signing. The market hears about the deal after it closes.
I work under a mandate and act for one side only in any one deal. The fee depends on the scale of the asset and the amount of work. I name the amount after the first conversation and fix it in the engagement agreement together with the scope, timeline and payment terms.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a pharmacy worth when sold?
In under a year, pharmacy retail disclosed around ten deals and not a single price. Analysts' estimates for 5 pharmacy chain deals give 2 to 5 months' turnover. A single regional pharmacy in the lots that passed through me over the year sold for 3–4 million roubles, that is, 1–2 months' turnover.
Why do you act for one side only?
When an intermediary works for both sides, information spreads across the market and the asset loses value before bargaining even starts. So in any one deal I represent either the seller or the buyer.
Will the market find out a sale is being prepared?
Negotiations are closed. We sign a non-disclosure agreement before any data is handed over; your extracts and documents are stored separately and are not used in other projects. The market hears about the deal after it closes.
Does the licence transfer when a pharmacy is bought?
If the pharmacy is bought as assets, the licence does not transfer: the buyer obtains a new one for their own legal entity and address. If the legal entity is bought, its licences stay with it.
What documents should I send before the first conversation?
There is no need to send figures or documents before the non-disclosure agreement is signed. In your first message it is enough to say whether you are selling or buying, the scale of the asset, what the task is and by when you need the result.
Let's Discuss Your Case
Write to me on Telegram: whether you are selling or buying, the scale of the asset and by when you need the result.
Message on Telegram