EBOS Group Limited is the largest marketer, wholesaler, and distributor of

medical Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

, and

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

products in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

. It is also a major provider of animal care products.

History

EBOS was founded in 1922 as Early Brothers Trading Company Limited in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Initially the company sold lamps for horse drawn carriages, but later expanded into a broad array of goods such as heating equipment, household appliances and healthcare supplies. In the 1950s the company narrowed its business focus to healthcare and rebranded as Early Brothers Dental and Surgical Supplies Limited in 1954. EBOS Dental and Surgical Supplies was listed on the

New Zealand Stock Exchange New Zealand's Exchange (), known commonly as the NZX, is the national stock exchange for New Zealand and a publicly owned company. NZX is the parent company of Smartshares, and Wealth Technologies. , the NZX had a total of 179 listed securiti ...

in 1967 and formally rebranded as EBOS Group Limited in 1986. EBOS first entered the Australian market in 1996 and was listed on the

Australian Stock Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as, ...

in 2013. EBOS attained a position in the

S&P/NZX 50 The S&P/NZX 50 Index is the main stock market index in New Zealand. It comprises the 50 biggest stocks by free-float market capitalisation trading on the New Zealand Stock Market (NZSX). The calculation of the free-float capitalisation excludes ...

in 2006, was added to the S&P/NZX 10 in 2022 and in 2023 was added to the MSCI Index.

Subsidiaries

EBOS Group owns a controlling interest in over 100 companies throughout Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. In 2013 EBOS acquired Symbion for

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

1.1 billion and in doing so inheriting the Faulding pharmaceutical brand. In 2016 EBOS acquired a controlling interest in Terry White Group, Australia's largest pharmacy retailer, and in 2018 acquired all minority shares to establish a 100% holding. EBOS entered the medical devices distribution sector in 2019. EBOS greatly expanded its presence in that market in 2021 when it acquired LifeHealthcare's subsidiaries in Australia and New Zealand, as well as a controlling share in its Asian subsidiary, Transmedic, for A$1.17 billion. EBOS Group also holds a number of animal care subsidiaries, such as Black Hawk Premium Pet Care, which was acquired for A$57.8 million in 2014. Animal care made up 16% of the group's overall earnings in 2014, but has grown rapidly to make up 20% of overall earnings in 2023.

References

{{NZX 50 companies Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Companies listed on the New Zealand Exchange Companies in the S&P/NZX 50 Index Cross-listed companies Health care companies of Australia Health care companies of New Zealand New Zealand companies established in 1922