Drug solution: the April pharmacy chain may change its owner
One of the largest pharmacy chains in Russia, April, is looking for potential buyers, Izvestia has learned. It has more than 10.4 thousand outlets and ranks second in terms of revenue, according to the DSM Group. Experts estimate the value of the business at 58-65 billion rubles. According to market participants, such a large asset is unlikely to interest other pharmacy operators due to its scale, but it can attract large ecosystem players such as Yandex, Wildberries & Russ, and federal retailers. Business interest in this segment is explained by its stability during the period of economic volatility, they point out. By the end of 2025, it grew in money by 14% year-on-year, to 2.3 trillion rubles. See the Izvestia article about what is happening in pharmacy retail.
How one of the industry leaders sells
The fact that the April pharmacy chain is actually up for sale was told to Izvestia by a top manager of a large pharmaceutical company, a source in a large investment bank, and also confirmed by an interlocutor involved in the negotiations and a consultant familiar with the proposal. A representative of the company did not respond to a request from the editorial board.
April is one of the largest federal pharmacy chains developing the brand of the same name, as well as Pharmacy Club and Pharmacy Warehouse. Its first locations opened in 2000 in Krasnodar. According to the data of the DSM Group, according to the results of the first quarter of 2026, it numbered about 10.4 thousand points in 70 regions of the country — an absolute record among Russian companies in this segment. This is followed by Rigla, which is part of Vadim Yakunin's Protek group, with 7.2 thousand points, and Implosion, with 5.8 thousand points. In terms of revenue, the Krasnodar network ranks second, second only to Rigla, with 60.5 billion rubles and 73.4 billion, respectively, according to DSM Group data. By the end of 2025, April topped the ranking of the largest pharmacy chains with total sales of 259.3 billion rubles, according to Russian Forbes.
The main operating legal entity is LLC "April Family Pharmacy". 99% of it belongs to Krasnodar businessman Vadim Anisimov, the remaining 1% belongs to Otrada LLC. According to three Izvestia sources familiar with the company's ownership structure, Sergey Galitsky, the founder of the Magnit retailer, may be the beneficiary of the network. Another interlocutor who worked with April assures that Galitsky is among the shareholders of the group, but does not make key decisions in its management. It was not possible to contact him. Vadim Anisimov did not respond to a call from a correspondent of Izvestia.
The company thought about selling the business four years ago, said a source close to its beneficiaries. At the same time, the network began to look for potential buyers, but without success, he explained. This, according to him, is largely due to the "taciturnity" of the owners themselves, who "are unlikely to ever get to the deal." This is also confirmed by two other Izvestia interlocutors who participated in the negotiations.
Vadim Anisimov has already attempted to sell the business. In 2009, he negotiated with the networks Doctor Stoletov (part of the Katren Group of Companies) and Raduga, which at that time belonged to Alexander Serebrennikov, a deputy of the Sverdlovsk Legislative Assembly. The entrepreneur himself told about this in an interview with the industry publication Vademecum. It was also noted that the parties could not agree on an assessment of the business.
Nikolay Bespalov, Executive Director of RNC Pharma, estimates the business in the range of 58-65 billion rubles, excluding debt. According to him, the sale may be related both to the need for a strategic investor against the background of high rates and plans to invest in production, and to the attractiveness of the pharmaceutical market for non-core investors. For the latter, the pharmacy segment is traditionally perceived as a "safe haven," the expert noted. There may also be internal reasons among the selling factors, including the possible exit of current shareholders from the business, he admitted.
Who might be interested in buying a business
Existing federal and regional pharmacy chains that want to increase their market share may be interested in buying the asset, said Roman Samoilov, Director of the Consumer Sector and Agroindustrial Complex practice at Strategy Partners. However, given the scale of April, it is unlikely that it will attract industry players, Nikolai Bespalov believes. Most likely, non—core retail companies or ecosystems may be among the potential buyers, the expert added.
Wildberries & Russ (RVB) showed interest in the asset, a top manager of a large pharmaceutical company and a source familiar with its plans told Izvestia, without specifying the details of these negotiations. A representative of the RVB declined to comment. At the same time, an interlocutor close to the marketplace said that the company was not interested in this business.
The pharmacy chain may also be of interest to private equity funds and large pharmaceutical companies seeking to strengthen the sales and distribution channel, Roman Samoilov suggested.
According to Nikolai Bespalov, the chain has a fairly strict pricing policy with an eye to economical consumption. This makes it possible to consider it "a pretty strong business in a unique format," he is sure.
The pharmacy segment attracts non-core players, experts say. For example, Ozon is planning to launch darkstores to deliver online drug orders. In August 2025, Yandex launched the Yandex Pharmacies service, operating in more than 200 cities, and Wildberries integrated the Eapteki range into its platform (owned by the structures of the founder of R-Pharma, Alexander Repik). In addition, Magnit retailer is developing Magnit Pharmacy, a network of about 1.1 thousand outlets and plans to launch at least 100 new ones this year.
Such retail remains a profitable area of the pharmaceutical market, Nikolai Bespalov believes. The net profitability of pharmacies is often in the range of about 2-5%, depending on the format, Roman Samoilov estimates. By the end of 2025, the monetary volume of the market amounted to 2.3 trillion rubles, which is 14% more than a year earlier, according to data from the DSM Group. The number of pharmacies increased by 3.7% over the same period, to 83.7 thousand outlets, and the share of the largest chains continued to increase, reaching 73.5% of the market. Roman Samoilov attributes the consolidation of the market to a decrease in business margins and the need to scale to maintain profitability. This trend will continue in the future, he expects.
At the same time, experts assess the pharmacy sector as one of the most stable retail segments. Demand for medicines and health products is less dependent on the state of the economy, so the industry remains stable even in times of crisis, said Roman Samoilov from Strategy Partners. According to him, the market continues to grow due to an aging population, increased consumption of medicines, as well as increased demand for health products and dietary supplements.
At the same time, large retailers and marketplaces are increasingly facing restrictions on further growth, since they are only able to partially cover the needs of customers within certain product categories, Nikolai Bespalov drew attention. In his opinion, those players who can offer consumers a comprehensive format and the widest possible range of goods and services will gain a competitive advantage.
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