With the establishment of a new holding company, AVE of Nikos Vardinogiannis is seeking to strengthen its presence in the broader pharmaceutical sector.
The newly established AVE PHARMA S.A., based in Pallini, was founded last Thursday, June 25, with initial capital of 2.05 million euros and the purpose of operating as a holding company and providing business and investment advice.
The incorporation document does not include the shareholding structure. However, the name, headquarters and members of the board of directors point to the listed AVE. The CEO is Mr. Thomas Roumpas of AVE, joined by Mr. Apostolos Voulgaris as chairman and Vasileios Papadopoulos as member.
As revealed to Euro2day.gr by AVE vice chairman Thomas Roumpas, the focus of growth is now shifting to the pharmacy sector, a branch with higher growth and profitability margins. As he had stated in this context, AVE, together with Deca Investments, acquired Pharma Plus, a company specializing in pharmacy support and having a network of approximately 100 members. According to Mr. Roumpas, the goal is for this network to gradually evolve into a franchise model.
The expansion into the pharmaceutical sector had already begun last July, when AVE acquired a 15% stake in Cyprus-based ERINO Enterprises, investing 1.5 million euros in a company with share capital of 10 million euros.
At the same time, the group, which has left food retail behind, continues to expand its investment portfolio.
Through the Cypriot AVE Participation it has committed to participate with up to 5 million euros in the share capital increase of Yalco, recently acquired a 24.98% stake in Probotek, which is active in the fields of drones and artificial intelligence, while it holds a 30% stake in the newly established Studio Illum [HO.RE.CA], which is active in hotel equipment and hospitality services.