Guardian Pharmacy seeks to raise up to $108 mil in US IPO

Joining the wave of healthcare IPOs this year, amid Fed rate cut expectations, Guardian Pharmacy Services, Inc. is preparing to go public. In a statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it has been approved to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GRDN.

The long-term care pharmacy company, headquartered in Atlanta, plans to issue 6.75 million shares, aiming to raise up to $108 million. The offer price is between $14 per share and $16 per share, with the midpoint at $15. The initial public offering is expected to give the company a valuation of $974 million. Raymond James, Stephens, Inc., and Truist Securities are the underwriters in the offering.

Overview

Guardian Pharmacy was founded in 2004 and currently operates 50 pharmacies serving around 174,000 residents in 36 states. Its main competitors are Omnicare, PharMerica Corporation, Remedi SeniorCare, and PharmCareUSA. The company is led by president and chief executive officer Fred Burke.

The management plans to use $55.2 million of the net proceeds from the offering to fund the aggregate cash portion of merger consideration – before the offering, the company will merge with a transitory merger subsidiary and will survive the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guardian Inc. Around $20 million of the proceeds will be used to repay certain borrowings on the line of credit under the existing credit facility. The remainder of the fund will be used for general corporate purposes and working capital.

Financials

Guardian Pharmacy’s annual revenues increased steadily and reached $1.05 billion in the year ended December 2023, nearly doubling over the past five years. Full-year net income was $37.7 million, compared to $49.7 million for the year ended December 2022. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $76.2 million in 2023 from $65.7 million in the previous year.  

The scale of the business has helped the company make major investments to ramp up its pharmacies and achieve operational efficiencies. The main areas of investment include logistics management, revenue cycle management, automated robotic dispensing technology, compliance packaging, pharmacy workflow software, and disaster recovery business continuity.