Over the summer, Rohlik.cz founder Tomáš Čupr loaned the pharmaceutical chain Pilulka CZK 80 million in the time of its greatest need. Except now the company’s situation has only worsened. The company’s shares have tanked, after it revealed an H1 operating loss of CZK 9.9 million. Revenues fell 32% over the same period to CZK 764 million. But Čupr is no rube. The terms of the loan give him an option to take a controlling stake in Pilulka, which debuted on the Prague Stock Exchange in 2020. To that end (maybe) he’s already put his man Peter Klekner on the board of directors. Klekner, who runs is now a proxy at Pilulka in charge of operations. Čupr hasn’t exercised his option to take over the company, but he has won permission from competition authorities to do so. Certainly, Pilulka doesn’t appear to be getting any more expensive as time moves on.
“Based on the latest available information that Pilulka has published, it’s clear that the situation in the company is far more serious than when I provided the loan,” said Cupr. “Through active participation in operations we’ll try to turn around this unfavorable situation with the TCF Capital team and to save not just our own investment but those of thousands of small investors.”
Čupr is a serial online retail founder whose credits include Slevomat, DámeJídlo.cz, and Rohlik.cz. The Kasa brothers founded Pilulka in 2013 and held an IPO in 2020 to fund an expansion into Romania, Austria and Hungary. It has since exited Romania and closed operations in Austria and Hungary.
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