Latest news with #NaviGroup
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Uniphar agrees to undertakings pending injunction hearing over alleged breach of agreement
Uniphar has agreed to certain undertakings pending a hearing in a dispute over an alleged breach of an agreement between the pharma giant and a pharmacy brokerage business, the High Court heard on Monday. The undertakings remain in place pending a hearing of an injunction application against Uniphar plc and Uniphar Wholesale by brokerage firm, Thera Pharmaceuticals, which claims the alleged breach is part of an attempted Uniphar takeover and a breach of its dominant market position. Dublin-based Thera seeks orders preventing Uniphar from blocking its trading account and from disabling or otherwise altering an existing system for sending real time stock updates to it. It says Uniphar has breached a brokerage agreement it has had with Thera since 2015. Uniphar has denied the claims. READ MORE Thera, part of the Navi Group, provides infrastructure to the purchasing power of a large group of retail pharmacies for ordering supplies from wholesalers like Uniphar which, with United Drug, account for 87 per cent of sales in the State. Thera says the consolidated group buying can negotiate discounts from suppliers like Uniphar. This means it can deliver to retail pharmacies significant savings and ordering efficiency compared to what they could achieve individually. The application to bring proceedings was made on a one side only represented basis last week to Mr Justice Brian Cregan who granted Thera permission to do so and returned the case to Monday. On Monday, Kelley Smith SC, for Uniphar, said the parties had agreed to undertakings pending determination of the injunction application and had also agreed a set of directions for the exchange of papers so that an early hearing of the matter could take place. Mr Justice Cregan approved the directions for exchange of papers and said he would put the case to the end of the week for the list to fix dates to see if a June date proposed by Ms Smith could be accommodated.
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Uniphar says lawsuit is designed to ‘damage' its reputation
Healthcare group Uniphar has said claims made in the High Court that it breached an agreement and abused its dominant market position to take over a pharmacy broker business are designed to publicly damage its reputation. The Dublin-listed group, which owns and operates large Irish pharmacy brands including Life and Hickey's, is the defendant in a lawsuit taken by Dublin-based Thera Pharmaceuticals. The Irish Times reported on Thursday that Thera Pharmaceuticals, part of the Navi group, is suing Uniphar in the High Court, seeking several remedies, including the restoration of its broker account. In a statement on Friday morning, Uniphar said it is 'disappointed' with 'unilateral stance' Thera has taken in the High Court action and 'categorically' rejects the allegations. READ MORE 'We honour our contractual obligations at all times, and we consider Navi's recent actions as designed to publicly damage our reputation and prevent or delay Uniphar from offering improved terms to customers in the market, in competition with Navi,' it said. 'Our customers remain our first priority and we will continue to provide the highest levels of service to them while we seek to address the allegations and defend our good name through the courts.' At issue in the case is an agreement between the group and Thera, which provides infrastructure allowing pharmacies to buy products from wholesalers like Uniphar, which Thera has claimed was unilaterally breached by the larger group. The deterioration in relations between the businesses followed Uniphar's takeover bid of Navi, which was blocked by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in 2021 because it would substantially lessen competition in the markets. In an affidavit opened in court this week, Thera founder and director John Carroll said his company has had a brokerage agreement with Uniphar Wholesale since 2015. He claimed Uniphar, however, has its own electronic ordering platform that competes with his company's. Mr Carroll said Uniphar had, in recent times, made unilateral changes to its agreement, including the blocking of Thera's trading account. Uniphar is also attempting to manufacture, in breach of the agreement, a large €3.49 million liability designed to destabilise Thera, he alleged. Uniphar is also attempting to force certain pharmacies to route all their purchases through it or face being cut off at the end of the month, Mr Carroll said, adding that the defendants have made 'a strategic decision' to launch a multifaceted attack on the brokerage agreement and the business relationship to try to take over Thera's business and seeks to abuse its dominant position.
Irish Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Pharmacy broker claims Uniphar breaching agreement in attempted takeover
A pharmacy brokerage business has claimed in the High Court that pharma giant Uniphar is breaching an agreement in an attempted take over bid and abuse its dominant position in the market. Dublin based Thera Pharmaceuticals Ltd is seeking orders preventing Uniphar from blocking its trading account and from disabling or otherwise altering an existing system for sending real time stock updates to it. Thera, part of the Navi Group, provides infrastructure to the purchasing power of a large group of retail pharmacies for ordering supplies from wholesalers like Uniphar which, with United Drug, account for 87 per cent of sales in the State. Thera says the consolidated group buying can negotiate discounts from suppliers like Uniphar. This means it can deliver to retail pharmacies significant savings and ordering efficiency compared to what could be achieved individually. READ MORE On Thursday, Thera was granted permission to serve notice of proceedings on Uniphar plc and Uniphar Wholesale Ltd. It seeks orders against Uniphar Wholesale including that it restore its trading account, not alter the real time stock update system, from reducing credit terms currently available to certain pharmacies and prohibiting the ceasing of supply to certain pharmacies. The application was made on a one side only represented (ex parte) basis by Michael Cush SC, for Thera. Mr Justice Brian Cregan said it could come back to court next week. In an affidavit, Thera founder and director John Carroll said in 2015 the company concluded a brokerage agreement with Uniphar Wholesale which has been extended to 2028. He said that in the last 12 months alone, around €475 million worth of sales have been concluded within the agreement, representing he says 35 per cent of Uniphar Wholesale's entire sales. Both Uniphar Wholesale and United Drug have their own buyers' group electronic ordering platforms which are in competition with Thera, he said. He believes Uniphar is also investing some €160 million in a new 'best in class' warehouse to compete more aggressively. Mr Carroll said there has been a successful relationship between the parties going back more than nine years and Thera has grown the number of pharmacies buying from Uniphar from 240 to 600 in that time. In 2021, he said a heads of agreement was concluded whereby it was agreed to sell shares in the Navi group parent company, NaviCorp Ltd, to Uniphar plc. But this was blocked by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on grounds it would substantially lessen competition in the markets. He said following the appointment of Ian Madden earlier this year as Uniphar Wholesale's managing director of supply and retail, a series of unilateral changes were made to the brokerage agreement. Mr Madden reports directly to Uniphar plc chief executive Ger Rabbette and acts on his instruction, he said. 'There has been a marked deterioration in the business relationship', he said. In April, Mr Madden wrote to Thera saying Navi 'had been identified as a high risk partner from an IT perspective and required a full IT security audit'. Mr Carroll said this was difficult to understand given the company has been consistently best in class on standards. The unilateral changes to the agreement immediately benefit Uniphar Wholesale's profit margins and is a clear abuse of its dominant market position, he said. Uniphar was also attempting to manufacture, in breach of the agreement, a massive €3.49 million liability designed to destabilise Thera, he said. He said Uniphar was also attempting to force certain pharmacies to route all their purchases through it or face being cut off at the end of the month. He said Uniphar's Mr Madden refused to go to mediation and this was of deep concern, he said. He believes the defendants have made 'a strategic decision' to launch a multifaceted attack on the brokerage agreement and the business relationship to try to take over Thera's business and seeks to abuse its dominant position. As a result Thera was seeking orders from the court restraining Uniphar Wholesale from continuing what Mr Carroll called 'its current campaign'.
