Walden group, one of the leading players in the European healthcare logistics sector, has announced its entry into the Italian market with a double acquisition: Xcm Healthcare, a company specialising in healthcare logistics, and Unitex, a national last-mile transport network operating under controlled temperature conditions and dedicated exclusively to the healthcare sector. Both companies were owned by the Marzano family, founders of the Farmacia S. Caterina group, along with CEO Gaetano Colella.
With this move, the French group consolidates its position at the heart of southern Europe, further enhancing its integrated logistics offering for the pharmaceutical and medical sectors. Italy represents a key market in this field: accounting for 2.4 per cent of global pharmaceutical consumption and with a strong focus on research and development, particularly in biotechnology, the country continues to offer fertile ground for structured investments in the healthcare supply chain.
Unitex, with two main hubs strategically located in northern (Milan) and southern (Naples) Italy, operates a comprehensive logistics network made up of 24 regional warehouses. This infrastructure will ensure full national coverage, offering controlled-temperature transport services, a crucial element in the distribution of medicines and medical devices. The Unitex network will be integrated into Eurotranspharma, a Walden group subsidiary specialising in last-mile pharmaceutical distribution, which will thereby expand its operations to ten European countries.
In parallel, Xcm Healthcare will be integrated into Movianto, the group’s primary healthcare logistics platform, already active in twelve European countries. Movianto is recognised for its ability to provide end-to-end supply chain solutions for sensitive products such as biotechnologies, vaccines, medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics.
Founded in 1951 in central France, Walden group has grown into a top-tier company in healthcare logistics while maintaining its character as a family-run business. Today, the group is led by Stéphane Baudry, grandson of the original founder Marcel Baudry, maintaining the continuity of family management. The group operates in the healthcare sector – handling pharmaceutical transport and logistics through Movianto, Eurotranspharma and Transpharma International – and in express transport, offering B2B and B2C services in France through Ciblex and Relais Colis. Its sixth company, Walden Digital, has developed digital solutions aimed at enhancing the security and quality of processes across its subsidiaries.
Walden group is present in fifteen countries, employs more than six thousand people and reported a turnover of 2.9 billion euros in 2023. According to Bloomberg, Walden group is itself the subject of acquisition talks involving Dhl and Centora.
