UDG Healthcare plc, formerly United Drug, is a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

-based international company and partner to the

healthcare industry The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, ...

, providing clinical, commercial, communication and packaging services. It was listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

until it was acquired by American private equity company

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in August 2021.

History

The company was established in Ballina in County Mayo as The United Drug Chemical Company, a co-operative controlled by Irish pharmacists, in 1948. UDG bought Leicestershire-based Ashfield Healthcare for £16.5 million in 2000. In January 2007, the company acquired Presearch, a UK laboratory services company, for GBP £2.9 million. It acquired Pharmexx, a

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-based business, in July 2012. In September 2012 it decided to move its primary listing from

Irish Stock Exchange Euronext Dublin (formerly The Irish Stock Exchange, ISE; ga, Stocmhalartán na hÉireann) is Ireland's main stock exchange, and has been in existence since 1793. The Euronext Dublin lists debt and fund securities and is used as a European g ...

to the

.United Drug set to shift to LSE
FT, 5 September 2012 It changed its name from United Drug to UDG Healthcare in October 2013. In February 2014, the company made its largest acquisition when it bought KnowledgePoint360 which specializes in healthcare communications for €105 million and made it part of its Ashfield division. In September 2015, UDG Healthcare sold its Irish drug distribution businesses to McKesson Corporation for $466 million. In May 2016 UDG Healthcare acquired Pegasus, an integrated healthcare communications consultancy. In October 2016 the company acquired STEM Marketing, a provider of commercial, marketing and medical audits to pharmaceutical companies. In July 2017, the company acquired Vynamic; later in the same month it acquired Cambridge BioMarketing for up to $35 million. In August 2018, UDG Healthcare announced the sale of its Aquilant division to H2 Equity Partners, a European private equity firm, for a total potential net consideration of up to €23 million (approximately $27 million). The company agreed to be acquired by

in a £2.8 billion transaction in June 2021.

Operations

UDG Healthcare plc operates across two divisions: Ashfield and Sharp.

References

External links

UDG Healthcare website
Companies formerly listed on Euronext Dublin Pharmaceutical companies established in 1948 Multinational companies Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange {{Med-company-stub