Boots
Can you describe the effects of your most recent acquisition?
The acquisition of Clearasil in December 2000 will make Boots Healthcare International's leading edge acne and skincare technology more accessible to a broader customer base, ie. in new markets (such as the US and Japan, which together account for 50% of Clearasil sales) and new channels (including grocery distribution in Continental Europe). Appropriate partners or distributers will be appointed to maximise the potential from these new opportunities. The Clearasil acquisition also opens up the US and Japanese markets to Boots Healthcare International's full product portfolio. Boots Healthcare International has appointed an integration team from across its business to manage the transition of the Clearasil brand from P&G and it has already taken full control of the Clearasil business in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and India.
Also in December 2000, Boots became the first major retail optician in the UK to offer laser eye surgery, when it opened a clinic within its Boots Opticians store in Regent Street, London. Boots LASIK (Laser In-situ Keratomileusis) brings a significant advance in eye correction techniques to the high street. Over £20 million has been invested to adapt NASA radar space technology to develop an eye tracker that will compensate for the eye's involuntary movements, integrated with a highly accurate 0.8 mm-wide excimer laser. In the UK, this is only available through Boots and its ophthalmic team.
The market for laser eye surgery is growing rapidly and Boots now plans to open five more clinics by August 2001 to meet this demand. An investment of £1.3 million is being made in each clinic and 80 new jobs will be created as a result.
On 7th April 1998 The Boots Group plc announced the acquisition by Boots of Conors Holdings Ltd for £18 million. A privately owned retail chain, Conors has 34 stores (25 in Northern Ireland, 5 in the Republic, 3 in England and 1 in Wales) with total selling space approaching 8,500 m2. For the sixteen month period ended 31st January 1998, Conors' turnover was £60 million. The value of the company's net assets is approximately £3.9 million.
For Boots, the acquisition represents a major advance in Northern Ireland where it has been trading for more than 3 years and currently has 25 stores.
On 20th February 1998 The Boots Group PLC announced the acquisition by Boots of the Hayes Conyngham & Robinson chemists chain (HCR) in the Republic of Ireland. Boots purchased SCM limited, the holding company of HCR, for an undisclosed sum. HCR has 15 stores in Dublin and Cork with approaching 3000 square metres of selling space. In the year ending 28 February 1997, HCR had a turnover of IR £18.8 million (STG £15.8 million). The value of the net assets of the SCM group is approximately IR £1.8 million (STG £1.5 million).
For Boots, the acquisition represents a major advance in the IR £250 million Irish healthcare market. HCR is Ireland's biggest chain of chemists. Boots currently has seven stores in the Republic of Ireland, with [next page]