After acquiring a majority stake in and growing Uganda’s Guardian Health to Uganda’s number one retail pharmacy chain, Ascent Capital, a for-Africa private equity investor has exited, selling its stake to Kenya’s e-healthcare firm, MYDAWA Holdings.
Anthony Natif, Guardian Health’s founder and Chief Executive Officer until last week has also sold off his stake, giving MYDAWA, 100% holding of Guardian Health. Natif, whose impeccable knowledge of Uganda’s healthcare industry helped Guardian Health to rapidly gain market share, has also stepped down as Chief Executive Officer, according to our sources.
MYDAWA was in 2016 founded by Neil O’leary, the billionaire Chairman and CEO of Ion Equity a private equity firm that invests in energy, agroforestry, multimedia, healthcare, and hospitality sectors on the continent and Tony Wood, an ex-Wananchi Group and Alcatel-Lucent health technology, e-commerce and strategy business leader.
MYDAWA is the first fully licensed e-pharmacy in Kenya providing patients and consumers with convenient access to affordable and genuine prescription and over-the-counter medicines as well as health and wellness products along with a wide selection of personal care products. In 2019, AAIC, a Japanese-backed African healthcare fund, invested USD3 million into MYDAWA, acquiring some stake in the business. Alta Semper Capital, a healthcare leading Private Equity firm recently acquired a majority stake in MYDAWA and infused USD20 million into the business. We do understand that the MYDAWA e-healthcare business has not been performing to expectations, necessitating the acquisition of a healthier Guardian Health to create a well-balanced cross-border bricks-and-clicks healthcare portfolio.
As part of the acquisition, TonyWood who has been the CEO of MYDAWA will be replaced by CEO Priscilla Muhiu, formerly of Glovo Kenya. It is not yet clear who will take over Guardian Health but Cedric Ssendiwala who has been the General Manager has been left in charge in the interim according to our sources.
Guardian⏤ from 5 stores to 19 stores in 6 years
Ascent Capital, in 2017 acquired a controlling stake in Guardian Health, for an undisclosed amount. Following the majority stake, Ascent Capital also infused both working capital, creating better cashflows, wider product portfolio, better systems, larger footprint and a bigger working force. As at March 2023, Guardian Pharmacy had expanded from 5 stores, to 19 stores in 6 districts, with a workforce of 200 people and reaching over 1 million people.
The business was valued at a reported USD10 million.
The acquisition by the e-leaning MYDAWA is expected to boost Guardian Health’s largely underdeveloped online and telemedicine service that was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a 2022 interview, with CEO East Africa Magazine, Cedric Ssendiwala summarised the company’s bricks and clicks model, as thus: “We are looking at even a bigger footprint across the country to be in at least 15 districts and 30 stores in the next 3 years. We are aiming to expand our online business offering and want to be the leading tele-pharmacy service provider in the country.
Both Ascent Capital and Anthony Natif were unavailable to comment by the time of publishing.
In an emailed comment, Anthony Natif, the Guardian founder and now ex-CEO, said he was glad they had found the right partners to continue his mission of easing access to medicine Ugandans.
“When I went to pharmacy school at Makerere University and later to The Department of Global Health at the University of Washington, my goal was always to build something that would address the problem of access to medicine but also address the issue of counterfeit medicines in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said. “By starting and successfully growing Guardian Health into a pharmacy chain that reaches millions of people, I think our partners and I have done our part in showing that business can be a force for good. It can be a force for public health good,” he added.
Natif said he leaves Guardian with “a lot of gratitude to my partners, Ascent Capital who took a chance on us even when convention said they shouldn’t”.
“I’m glad to say we’ve returned their investment with significant upside. I especially would like to thank our staff over the years who have laid it all on the line to ensure our clients get the best pharmaceutical care possible. I believe they’ll continue doing their best to grow a dream we started more than 10 years ago. They and our clients are the real MVPs,” Natif reiterated.
“I’m excited for the future of the company under the stewardship of young people like Cedric Ssendiwala that I’ve painstakingly mentored and supported to become the future leaders of the healthcare industry. It’s gratifying to see them take the reigns with confidence. I have every intention to support them to overwhelming success. I believe MYDAWA shares a lot of the values that pushed us to start this company and I’m confident they’ll take the company to even greater heights,” Natif further said.
Guardian⏤ a great expansion opportunity
MYDAWA co-founder Neil O’Leary has been quoted in the media saying that Alta Semper has been picked as a partner because its “ambition exactly matches that of MYDAWA, and it brings the drive, connections and clout to succeed”.
With Alta Semper Capital, O’Leary said, “MYDAWA now has both a solid secure base and a great expansion opportunity based on a great offering which improves health outcomes. Guardian is a great first step on fulfilling our ambition”.
Alta Semper Capital’s CEO, Afsane Jetha, was also quoted saying that the investment marked the PE firm’s first entry into digital healthcare in Africa, regarded as one of the sectors with the potential for great growth in the coming years.
“MYDAWA was the logical choice for us as their groundbreaking technology, underpinning a scalable business model, along with regulatory know-how and market entry experience, mapped so well to our own strategy. The drive to increase access to good advice and safe and affordable medication is core to our overall mission of democratising access to health and well-being across the African continent,” said Jetha.
“With consumer spending in Africa projected to reach $2.1 trillion by 2025, this represents one of the continent’s largest business opportunities. Therefore, the investment into MYDAWA is part of our strategic aim at meeting this growing demand by investing in locally produced and value-priced consumer goods and services,” Jetha added.