Another step-change for Cooper Consumer Health, with the acquisition of Ferrer Consumer Healthcare business in Spain

Cooper Consumer Health’s Spanish business has gone from strength to strength over the past five years. In 2024, it grew fivefold through the acquisition and subsequent successful reinvigoration of the Viatris OTC brand portfolio, including lighthouse brands Betadine (antiseptics), Duphalac (laxatives) and Armolipid (cholesterol control). The acquisition of Ferrer Consumer Healthcare business represents another step-change, adding one of Spain’s most iconic OTC brands, Gelocatil, to the Cooper portfolio.

Gelocatil is a hero brand, ranked #1 in terms of awareness among both pharmacists and consumers in its category, with a rich heritage spanning decades. Cooper Consumer Health’s team is excited to bring its complementary expertise to bear, with a strategy built on pharmacist partnerships, innovation, in-store activation and best-in-class marketing.

The Ferrer Consumer Healthcare portfolio also includes other attractive and complementary brands such as Repavar in dermocosmetics and Novalac in paediatric nutrition.

“We are extremely proud of the evolution and strength of our business in Spain. We are convinced this acquisition will further reinforce our market position, both in terms of portfolio breadth and quality, adding several leading and iconic brands, including Gelocatil, the #1 analgesics brand in Spain, to our existing portfolio of lighthouse brands. In terms of scale, the acquisition allows us to further grow our talented and dedicated employee base supporting over 20,000 pharmacies across Spain.” said Bart Meermans, CEO of Cooper Consumer Health. “We look forward to working hand-in-hand with the Ferrer team and building on the solid foundations established over the past 50+ years.”

“The Consumer Healthcare business has been a significant part of Ferrer’s story, and we want its positive legacy to endure under new ownership. As Ferrer sharpens its focus on specialty care and transformative therapies in rare diseases, Cooper Consumer Health is ideally placed to develop this portfolio of iconic brands, while both companies continue to serve pharmacists and consumers across Spain.” said Mario Rovirosa, CEO of Ferrer.

-

About Cooper Consumer Health
Cooper Consumer Health is a leading pure-play OTC consumer healthcare platform in Europe. The company develops, manufactures and distributes a broad portfolio of category-leading self-care brands with high consumer awareness and loyalty, serving more than 100,000 pharmacies and drugstores across Europe and beyond.

https://www.cooperconsumerhealth.com/

About Ferrer
At Ferrer, we use business to fight for social justice. We have long been a company that wants to do things differently; instead of maximizing shareholder returns, we reinvest much of our profit in initiatives that give back to society. Back where it belongs. We go beyond compliance and are guided by the highest standards of sustainability, ethics and integrity. As such, since 2022, we are a B Corp.

Founded in Barcelona in 1959, Ferrer offers transformative solutions for life-threatening diseases in more than one hundred countries. In line with our purpose, we have an increasing focus on pulmonary vascular and interstitial lung diseases and rare neurological disorders in adults and children. Our 1,800-strong team is driven by a clear conviction: our business is not an end in itself, but a way to change lives.

We are Ferrer. Ferrer for good.
www.ferrer.com

For media inquiries, please contact:

Maxime Giordanengo
Head of Group Corporate Communication
maxime.giordanengo@cooperconsumerhealth.com
+33 6 19 79 51 04