Karo Healthcare AB

The company traces its founding to 1987 [2]. It later operated as a listed pharmaceutical and consumer-health business under the name Karo Pharma before being taken private. In 2018 the private-equity firm EQT launched a public offer for the company, and it was delisted from Nasdaq First North in November 2022 through a squeeze-out [7]. Over the following years the group narrowed its focus toward consumer healthcare and skin-health brands, expanding its stable through acquisitions and rebranding to Karo Healthcare.

Karo Healthcare owns a range of specialist skin-health and consumer-health brands. Among those it lists are E45, Locobase, Decubal and Apobase [4], a group of dermatological and moisturising skincare lines. Its wider portfolio also includes the antifungal brands Pevaryl and Lamisil, the topical brand Remescar, and Stop 24. Several of these products sit at the border of skincare and over-the-counter medicine, reflecting the company's position across both dermo-cosmetics and consumer pharmaceuticals.

Karo Healthcare has grown substantially through acquisitions. In 2023 it completed the purchase of the rights to the global over-the-counter brand Lamisil from Haleon, a deal announced on 1 November 2023 [8]. The company has continued to add skin-health brands in Northern Europe, positioning itself as a consolidator of consumer-health and dermatological products across the region [6].

Karo Healthcare is privately held. The private-equity firm EQT took the company private and was in control from 2019 until 2025 [7]. On 9 April 2025, EQT agreed to sell Karo Healthcare to the American investment firm KKR at an enterprise value of about EUR 2.65 billion, and the transaction closed on 27 August 2025, making KKR the current owner [5].

Following the completion of the KKR acquisition on 27 August 2025, Karo Healthcare operates as a KKR-owned company. It remains an active, independently managed consumer-healthcare group headquartered in Stockholm [5].