The Platform Group AG
Guidance raised again and CMD hosted; chg. set & PT raised
Last week, we not only hosted TPG at our European MidCap Event in Paris, but TPG also raised its mid-term guidance again following recent acquisitions and hosted a CMD. Here are our key takeaways:
Pharma acquisitions signed: TPG entered agreements to acquire a 50% +1 stake in (1) Pharmosan Group, Austria, (2) Vamida Versandapotheke, Czech Republic and (3) Apothekia, Germany. All three companies are expected to generate sales of € 130m in FY’26e with an EBITDA margin of 7-8% (in line with TPG’s margin targets). Closing is expected at end of FY’25e, thus a full year effect is only expected for FY’26e. The strategic rationale behind the acquisitions is the filling of an important gap in the B2B pharmacy value chain. To be precise, pharmacies rely on manifold B2B companies before being able to serve customers (online and offline). For example, ApoNow (acquired in 2021) already bridges the gap between pharma manufacturers and local (offline) pharmacies. Now TPG fills another open gap with the pharma distributor Pharmosan, the pharma-education platform Apothekia. Furthermore, TPG adds the Austrian online pharmacy Vamida to its portfolio, which can be used as a platform for TPG’s existing pharma offering. This makes TPG a key partner for pharmacies, being present along almost the entire value chain. Acquisition prices were not disclosed, but we estimate a price of 3-5x EV/EBITDA on the back of past acquisition multiples, which implies a payment of € 15-25m for 50%+1 (eNuW). With that, the current segment “Service & Retail Goods” will be renamed to “Pharma & Service Goods”.
FY’26e targets raised: Having signed the deals above, TPG raised its FY’26e mid-term targets to € >1bn (prev.: € > 860m) and € 70-80m adj. EBITDA (prev.: € >64m). The FY’25 guidance remains unchanged as the acquisitions will be closed at the end of the year and should thus not have an impact on FY’25 figures.
Optics & hearing identified as a highly profitable key growth market. Another key discussion point was the ongoing market entry into optics & hearing. The newly formed segment will contribute significantly to the group’s profitability with EBITDA margins of around 25%. Moreover, the strategic rationale pays off well into TPG’s platform strategy. TPG already announced two more acquisitions to follow in Q4’25e, however, given the demographic development of pharmacists (average age of 54 and 25% of store owners older than 60), many more acquisition opportunities with strong negotiation power should arise in the future.
With the recent acquisitions now reflected in our model, we increase our DCF-based PT to € 21.00 (old: € 19.00) and reiterate our BUY recommendation.