Sunday Times Rich List

Smaller pharmaceuticals producers are continually becoming more attractive targets for the City, increasing their value and their owners’ fortunes, writes Brian Collett

They are being pursued by private equity companies, hedge fund consultancies and investment banks, making the sector “really sexy at the moment”, according to Dr Philip Beresford, compiler of the recently published Sunday Times Rich List 2014. And, of course, the finance industry’s enthusiasm has been intensified this year by Pfizer’s high-profile bid for AstraZeneca.

Brothers Bhiku and Vijay Patel, from poor origins in Kenya, are typical. They built up Amdipharm and sold most of it to a private equity business for £367m. They kept their second company, Conference Waymade Healthcare, and used their gains to form another smaller operation. Their wealth is put at £525m, rising phenomenally from last year’s £130m. They are ranked 190th.

Bhikuand VijayPatel: 190th on the Rich List, with £525m

Husband-and-wife team Navin and Varsha Engineer worked 18 hours a day to create a chain of pharmacies, sold for £12m and set up their pharmaceuticals operation Chemidex. This company and a smaller one formed by the Engineers made a £15.15m profit in 2012-13 and are valued at £750m. The Engineers are estimated at £810m, up from £620m, taking 123rd place.

Investors have doubled the fortune of Andrew and Linda Leaver, who formed Clinigen to supply medicines for clinical trials and then floated it. The Leavers, who have retained a £134m stake, are now worth £159m, up from £75m and standing at 594th.

A lucrative sale merely spurred on Donald Munro, a Glasgow pharmaceuticals entrepreneur, even though he was in his seventies. After selling two businesses for a reported £30m he created Munro Healthcare, a pharmaceuticals wholesale business. This company showed a £9.7m profit on £69m sales in 2012-13, lifting the Munro family’s wealth to £84m.

Small is beautiful

Many smaller pharmaceuticals companies thrive because they conduct drug research for the large operators. Mr Beresford explains: “This happens because smaller companies are quicker, cheaper, more efficient and more reliable and have none of the internal bureaucracy.”

Research has made the fortune of Amit Patel, founder of Auden McKenzie (Pharma Division), and his sister Meeta, a co-director. The company has more than 120 product licences and is valued at £325m. The Patels’ wealth is put at £360m, up from £300m, and they take 264th place.

Profits at pharmacies have risen this year, too. The 200-strong Day Lewis chain owned by Kirit Patel returned record profits of £11.5m on £200.6m sales in 2012-13. Patel is “a great entrepreneur with the right technique”, says Beresford. His wealth has risen to £90m from last year’s £75m. He is 947th.

Kirit Patel: "A great entrepreneur with the right technique"

Brothers build a fortune

Brothers Anwar and Yakub Patel were another team that switched from pharmacies to pharmaceuticals to build a fortune. They started their pharmacy chain in 1980, sold 111 of the 141 shops in 2005, and now run the pharmaceuticals wholesaler Prinwest. In a year, their wealth has progressed from £110m to £135m and they are ranked 666th.

The greatest individual wealth from pharmaceuticals in the list belongs to Ernesto Bertarelli, who sold the Geneva-based Serono business to Merck for £13.3bn in 2006. Bertarelli and his wife Kirsty, a former Miss UK, are estimated today to be worth £9.76bn, up from £7.4bn, and lie in fifth place.

Others listed include: Dennis and Mireille Gillings, Quintiles, £720m (£625m last year), 139th; Yusuf Hamied, Cipla, £663m (£1.26bn), 150th; Tony Tabaznik and family, Arrow Generics, £500m (unchanged), 199th; Bruce Craig, Marken, £300m (unchanged), 307th; Barry Haigh, Innovex, £200m (unchanged), 458th; Robert and Patrick Wilson, Nelsons, £195m (£145m), 490th; Derek Coates, Healthspan, £180m (new listing), 514th; John King, Warner Chilcott, £180m (£162m), 514th; Jonathan Thornton, Thornton & Ross, £150m (new listing), 607th; Doreen Lofthouse, Fisherman’s Friend, £95m (£175m), 921st; Lennart Perlhagen, Meda, £95m (unchanged), 921st; Jo Bradwell, The Binding Site, £90m (unchanged), 947th; Dallas Burston, Bartholomew-Rhodes, £90m (new listing), 947th; Dennis Pay, Paydens, £87m (£77m), 984th; Seamus Mulligan, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, £313m (£152m), 27th in the Irish section; John Climax, Icon, £105m (£86m), Irish 82nd; Austin Baird, Bairds Chemists, £65m (£72m), Irish 132nd; Ronan Lambe, Icon, £65m (£64m), 132nd; Michael Costello, Costello, £64m (£62m), 138th; Peter FitzGerald, Randox Laboratories, £60m (unchanged), 150th; Geoffrey Elliott, Warner Chilcott, £52m (unchanged), 177th.