Carlyle Group invests $250m in US e-commerce company Pharmapacks

The Carlyle Group has invested over $250 million in Pharmapacks, a US-based e-commerce company focused on health, personal care, and beauty products..

The investment gives an enterprise value of nearly $1.1 billion to Pharmapacks.

Starting as a single brick and mortar pharmacy, Pharmapacks is said to have grown into a platform offering e-commerce capabilities to brands.

Since 2010, the e-commerce company has been developing partnerships with consumer brands across e-commerce marketplaces across North America, including Amazon, eBay, Target, Walmart, Google, and Facebook.

Pharmapacks had registered more than $250 million in sales last year.

The e-commerce company is set to open an additional 230k square foot replenishment center this month.

Andrew Vagenas – CEO of Pharmapacks said: “Pharmapacks is experiencing unprecedented growth with massive market support and highly attractive industry dynamics.

“We are thrilled that our partnership with Carlyle, a world-class investment firm with extensive connectivity, data and global resources, will provide us with an opportunity to take significant steps to enter the next phase of our growth plans.”

Carlyle Group said that the investment in Pharmapacks is a continuation of its long-term global commitment to consumer, media and retail in which it has injected over $21.5 billion of equity since its founding.

Equity capital for the investment in the ecommerce company has been made from the $18.5 billion Carlyle Partners VII fund that makes majority and strategic minority investments mainly in the US in targeted sectors such as consumer, media and retail.

Jay Sammons – Carlyle Head of Global Consumer, Media & Retail said: “We’re thrilled to partner with another founder-led growth company, leveraging the global resources of the Carlyle platform to support Pharmapacks’ acceleration.

“We are focused on identifying companies that are growing significantly faster than the market and benefiting from strong secular tailwinds. As a company sitting at the cross section of a number of attractive trends, including the massive and rapid expansion of ecommerce, we have strong conviction in Pharmapacks’ ability to achieve sustainable growth.”

In September, Pharmapacks closed a $40 million bridge round financing which was led by Reckitt Benckiser,  The Straus Group, The Craftory, Sawaya Capital Partners, and The Emerson Group.

Prior to that, in July,  the e-commerce company secured growth financing of $150 million with GPI Capital and JPMorgan Chase Bank.