Romanian drug distributor Mediplus acquires five Mercedes-Benz trucks under buy-back

Mercedes-Benz România recently sold five new Axor and Actros trucks to Romanian drug distributor Mediplus, part of the A&D Pharma group. This comes soon after Mediplus acquired 145 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter commercial vehicles, after taking the full maintenance and repair package for its entire fleet. The value of the contract, a buy-back deal with Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, was not revealed. The drug distributor chose to increase its fleet as its merchandise volume increased, along with its transport needs nationwide. The company runs 11 warehouses and a cross-docking location, and chose to have an in-house logistics department, rather than outsourcing. With the newly acquired trucks, Mediplus will carry drugs and cosmetics which will reach various sales outlets, including A&D Pharma's Sensiblu pharmacies. The group's fleet will reach nine trucks. “This is part of our strategy to re-sell the fleet after five years either back to Mercedes-Benz, or to an authorized dealer,”said Robert Chende, Mediplus fleet manager. A&D Pharma runs a 400-pharmacy chains across Romania, and ended 2011 with a turnover of EUR 1.4 billion, and a profit of EUR 33 million. In 2012, the Sensiblu chain posted a turnover of EUR 245 million, and a loss of EUR 14 million. Mediplus had a turnover of EUR 707 million, and a net profit of around EUR 14 million end – 2012, according to data form the Economy Ministry. editor@romania-insider.com