Pharma company Ceres buys industry peer Vésale Pharma

East Flanders prescription-free drug seller Ceres Pharma is buying its sector peer Vésale Pharma. The acquisition price is not known.

Ceres Pharma is acquiring Walloon Vésale Pharma, a pioneer in probiotic nutritional supplements. It markets a wide range of products targeting digestive, child health, immune and women's health. Vésale Pharma realized a turnover of 6.7 million euros last year.

The East Flanders-based Ceres Pharma was founded in 2017 by Mario Debel and Alychlo, Marc Coucke's investment company. As a result, Ceres was sometimes called the mini-Omega Pharma, after the larger Omega Pharma that Coucke has since sold.

Four years later, the two Flemish entrepreneurs sold the company to French investment fund Naxicap, reportedly for more than 100 million euros. Debel stayed on board as CEO and reinvested a large portion of his proceeds in the company.

Since then he has been working on a growth trajectory with Ceres Pharma, including through acquisitions in Belgium and abroad. Ceres is now active in the development and distribution of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biocides (pesticides against viruses, among other things), cosmetics, food supplements and compounded medicines in the Benelux, Italy and in Central and Eastern Europe.

Change is also on the way at Ceres. Earlier this year, Naxicap appointed investment bank Jefferies to seek a buyer for Ceres Pharma. Ceres accounts for 145 million euros in revenue and about 30 million euros in gross operating profit (ebitda).

Source: De Tijd, Michael Sephiha, 15/05/2025, This is an automatically generated translation of the original article, Link to the original article.