Top Swedish VC writes off investment in Walgreens backed VillageMD

Kinnevik said it had written off its stake in VillageMD amid "heightened uncertainty" about its future.
Top Swedish VC writes off investment in Walgreens backed VillageMD

A top Swedish VC firm has written off its investment in the troubled Walgreens-backed US clinic business VillageMD, amid “heightened uncertainty” about its future.

Kinnevik is a minority shareholder with a three per cent stake in VillageMD.

Three months ago, the stake was valued at SEK1.1bn (around $105m), but Kinnevik has now written off the investment, valuing it at zero, according to Kinnevik’s latest investment report.

Walgreens is looking to sell off or restructure VillageMD.

The US pharmacy giant invested $1bn in VillageMD in 2020 and then a further $5.2bn into the primary care firm in 2021, becoming its majority owner.

But Walgreens is now reducing its footprint, and closing 160 of its VillageMD primary care clinics after recording a $5.5bn impairment charge on its investment in the business.

The US pharmacy chain this week said it was shuttering more than 1,200 stores in a bid to turn around its fortunes.

Kinnevik, which has also backed Danish fintech Pleo and UK fintech Monese, said: “We have taken the drastic but conservative measure of writing down our underlying valuation of the company."

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