Alliance Healthcare, formerly Alliance UniChem, is a wholesaler, distributor and retailer of pharmaceutical, surgical, medical, and healthcare products throughout Europe. The company supplies more than 110,000 pharmacies, doctors, health centres, and hospitals from over 288 distribution centres in 11 countries. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of

Cencora Cencora, Inc., formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, is an American drug wholesale company and a contract research organization, that was formed by the merger of Bergen Brunswig and AmeriSource in 2001. It is one of the largest pharmaceutica ...

, having been formerly owned by

Walgreens Boots Alliance Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) is an American multinational holding company headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois. The company was formed on December 31, 2014, after Walgreens bought the 55% stake in Alliance Boots (owner of Boots UK L ...

until 2021.

History

Stefano Pessina Stefano Pessina (born 4 June 1941) is an Italian-Monegasque billionaire businessman; he is the executive chairman and largest single shareholder of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Early life Pessina was born in Pescara and grew up between Milan, Como ...

founded Alleanza Salute Italia in 1977 under the name of Alleanza Farmaceutica, which expanded to form Alliance Santé SA with Antonin De Bono (at that time Chairman and CEO (1994-97) of Européenne de répartition pharmaceutique et d'investissements which became Alliance Santé Distribution). In November 1997, Alliance Santé SA merged with UniChem PLC to form Alliance UniChem. The combined business became one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. In 1998 it purchased a majority stake in the Spanish pharmaceutical wholesaler Grupo Safa. In 1999, Alliance UniChem entered into a partnership with Galenica AG of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and created the Alliance Farmacie business in Italy. Plus s.r.o. and Pragopharm s.r.o. of the Czech Republic were purchased that year, and Alliance Santè and UniChem's Portuguese subsidiaries merged to form Alliance UniChem Farmacêutica S.A. The company purchased the Dutch firms Interpharm and De Vier Vijzels in 2000. In 2001 the company entered into a strategic wholesale pharmaceutical partnership with the Turkish company Hedef Holding. In 2002, Alliance UniChem bought the Norwegian pharmaceutical wholesaler Holtung. The company entered the

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most market capitalisation, highly capitalised ...

index that year. In 2003, Alliance UniChem bought a 40% indirect stake in the Egyptian wholesaler UCP via Hedef. The group launched the virtual pharmacy chain Alphega in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The virtual chain was introduced in Italy the following year. Alliance UniChem acquired Swiss specialist healthcare logistics and pre-wholesaler Alloga in 2005, as well as Spanish pharmaceutical wholesaler Farmacen, and the Bairds Chemist retail business in Northern Ireland. The UK retail pharmacy business was rebranded from ''Moss Pharmacy'' to ''Alliance Pharmacy''. On 3 October 2005 it was formally announced that Alliance UniChem would enter into a friendly merger with Boots Group, the UK's largest retail pharmacy chain. The merger was completed on 31 July 2006, forming Alliance Boots. Alliance UniChem was renamed Alliance Healthcare in 2009, and in 2014 Alliance Boots was purchased by Walgreens, forming

. In June 2021

AmerisourceBergen Cencora, Inc., formerly known as AmerisourceBergen, is an American drug wholesale company and a contract research organization, that was formed by the merger of Bergen Brunswig and AmeriSource in 2001. It is one of the largest pharmaceutica ...

acquired Alliance for $6.275 billion in cash.

Key people

* Pablo Rivas, Chief Operating Officer

References

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Retail companies established in 1997 Pharmacies Retail companies of the United Kingdom Wholesalers of the United Kingdom European medical and health organizations no:Alliance Boots sv:Alliance Unichem