Raylane Pharmacy Group expands portfolio; father-son duo buys Wards Chemist

Evans Pharmacy in Worcestershire and Wards Chemist in Birmingham have found new owners

Raylane Pharmacy Group has expanded its portfolio by acquiring Evans Pharmacy in Worcestershire. With this new addition, the independent community pharmacy chain has increased its total number of branches to 10.

Located in the centre of Malvern Link in Worcestershire, Evans Pharmacy dispenses approximately 10,000 items per month.

The acquisition follows the retirement of the previous owner, Philip Hawkes, who had managed the business for over a decade.

The sale was facilitated by Christie and Co through a confidential process, and the transaction price remains undisclosed.

Commenting on the deal, Carl Steer, director-pharmacy at Christie and Co, said: “The sale represents a perfect addition to an already successful group for Raylane Ltd.

“The instruction proved popular, and the completion represents another sale for Christie and Co in a record year for pharmacy sales.”

Raylane Pharmacy Group operates across the West Midlands and South West. Its existing branches include:

1. Bills Pharmacy, Kinver, Staffordshire
2. Central Pharmacy, Wolverhampton West Midlands
3. Claines Pharmacy & Travel Vaccines Clinic, Worcester, Worcestershire
4. Hawne Chemist & Travel Vaccines Clinic, Halesowen, West Midlands
5. James Pharmacy & Travel Vaccines Clinic, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
6. Millard & Bullock Pharmacy, Coseley, West Midlands
7. St Marks Pharmacy, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
8. Tividale Pharmacy, Rowley Regis, West Midlands
9. Wymans Brook Pharmacy & Travel Vaccines Clinic, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

The broker has also announced the sale of Wards Chemist in Birmingham, acquired by father-and-son duo Ian and Jas Riaar, who already own Yew Tree Pharmacy in Walsall.

Wards Chemist, located in the village of Handsworth Wood, a suburb of North Birmingham, dispenses an average of 6,613 items per month.

Diane Scott, the previous owner who managed the pharmacy for nearly 10 years, decided to sell the business upon her retirement.

Carl Steer, who oversaw the sales process, said:“After many months of back and forth with potential private sales, Mrs Scott instructed us and quickly we placed the pharmacy under offer, after receiving multiple acceptable offers.”

This is the second pharmacy the Riaar family has purchased through Christie and Co, having previously acquired their Walsall pharmacy via the broker.

Steer revealed that the family is already in the process of adding a third pharmacy.

“It was also pleasing to sell another pharmacy to the Riaar family, a lovely family that already has a third pharmacy purchase in the pipeline,” he stated.