CFAO Healthcare to fully acquire Goodlife Pharmacy

KENYA – CFAO Healthcare, the pharmaceutical distribution arm of Toyota-owned CFAO Group, is set to acquire the remaining 69.9% stake in Goodlife Pharmacy, East Africa’s largest private pharmacy chain.

The company will purchase the stake from Leapfrog Investments, making Goodlife a fully owned subsidiary of CFAO Healthcare.

CFAO Healthcare initially bought a 30% stake in Goodlife in March 2022, followed by a smaller stake in December 2022, bringing its ownership to 30.1%.

With this latest acquisition, CFAO Healthcare will take full control of the pharmacy chain, which operates 141 outlets across Kenya and Uganda—133 in Kenya and 8 in Uganda.

To complete the deal, CFAO Healthcare has notified the COMESA Competition Board of its intention to acquire the 69.9% stake in Africa Chemist & Beauty Care Inc (ACBC), Goodlife’s Mauritius-based holding company.

ACBC owns Goodlife Pharmacy Limited in Kenya and Africa Chemist & Beauty Care Uganda Limited, which operates as Goodlife Pharmacy in Uganda.

“This acquisition is a major step in expanding CFAO Healthcare’s presence in the East African pharmaceutical market,” a company spokesperson said.

CFAO Healthcare, which operates in 23 African countries under brands such as Eurapharma and Laborex, is a leading wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical products across the continent.

Kenya’s growing pharmacy market

The Kenyan pharmacy sector has been attracting significant investment in recent years. In 2019, Ghana-based mPharma acquired the Haltons pharmacy chain, expanding its Mutti-branded pharmacy network. The company also owns Healthplus Pharmacy in Nigeria.

In 2023, Mauritius-based IBL, the owner of Winners supermarket in Mauritius and Naivas supermarket in Kenya, acquired a majority stake in Harley’s, a Kenyan pharmaceutical distributor.

Similarly, DP World, which owns Imperial Logistics and its Kenyan pharmaceutical distributor Surgipharm, expanded its investments in Kenya by launching a new FMCG distribution unit in October 2024.

Kenya’s pharmacy industry continues to grow, with major players like Goodlife, Pharmaplus, and Haltons competing for market share.

Partnerships with fuel retailers such as Total, Rubis, and Vivo Energy, as well as supermarket chains like Naivas and Quickmart, have made pharmacies more accessible.

The sector is also witnessing an increased focus on lifestyle health, consumer healthcare, and prescription medicines.