United seals Procon deal

The deal for the Harrogate company, which specialises in
providing conference services for the pharmaceutical and healthcare
sectors, is worth £4.2m up front and another £1.2m
depending on if agreed targets are hit over the next 12 months.

Procon, which provides full corporate event management services
to its clients, ranging from venue finding and delegate
registration to putting on major conferences, employs 28 staff, all
of whom will stay on the business.

Procon organises events such as the annual conference of the
Society for Reproduction & Fertility, British Pharmaceutical
Conference and the annual conference of the Association of Police
Controlled Drugs Liason Officers.

Dublin-based United Drug provides services to healthcare
providers and is the largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in
Ireland.

Today it announced a 15% rise in pre-tax profits to 62.3m euros
(£44.7m) on turnover that was up 8% to 1.583bn euros
(£1.14bn).

It is the market leader in contract distribution outsourcing
(pre-wholesaling) in Ireland and has achieved the number one
position in the UK through its joint

venture business UniDrug Distribution (UDG) with Alloga, a company
owned by the Galencia Group & Alliance Unichem.

United Drug, which was founded in 1948 by a group of West of
Ireland chemists in Ballina, County Mayo, also operates
distribution services for pharmaceutical contract packaging in the
UK, Holland and Belgium.

The group is quoted on the London and Dublin stock
exchanges.

United Drug's chief executive, Liam FitzGerald said:”We
are delighted to announce the acquisition of Procon. The company is
a well established and very highly regarded supplier of value-added
services to the healthcare sector. Procon will form an important
part of our contract sales and consultancy outsourcing division and
help us broaden the range of services we provide to our
customers.

“I would like to welcome all management and staff of Procon
to the United Drug Group and we look forward to working with them
to build upon their success to date, as we continue our development
as a leading international healthcare services company,” he
added.