MILANO (AIMnews.it) - "We are committed to the development both in the core business of the expansion of the networks and in the establishment of the Luxembourg fund of which we are advisors. This is an essential initiative that goes in the direction of both the support of networks and as an aid to companies, also in terms of financial support and equity ". Fabio Pasquali, president of WM Capital, comments. What are your expectations on this initiative? On the one hand, the general partner Zeus Capital is doing a collection of work with a stated target of at least 20 million euros and on the other hand we, who have been in this business for over 20 years, are doing a thorough screening to better understand their characteristics and development plans to bring to the investment committee the companies that in our opinion are the most interesting. Do you have exclusive agreements with Zeus or could you be an advisor for similar initiatives? No, no exclusivity, however, we feel completely involved in this operation, so much so that the name of the fund, "AZ Franchising Fund", shows the name of our franchise division. It is still early on the operational front, but we have an observatory that monitors our customers and also more generally many other companies in the sector, so we are always updated on situations and trends in the sector. And what about your core business? Consulting on the franchising side has always been our main activity. However, when we were listed in 2013, the aim was to establish a company we owned: a network of pharmacies with innovative contents and services. However, the laws that were to liberalise the sector were delayed and only last year the possibility for joint stock companies to buy and manage pharmacies was finally approved. So how will you move? We are analysing the possibility, through our partner Alexander Dr. Fleming, of a plan to develop the opportunities that have opened up in the light of this new legislation. It will be a mixed network with franchising and partial participation, at least in the first phase, but the whole plan is based on our ability to build franchise networks. We must also approach the world of pharmacies that in our opinion is not yet ready for this jump and to welcome capitals and groups that intend to grow and develop in this sector. And our link to the fund can be useful in this situation. In any case, we will present our development plan by spring. How was 2017? The world of franchising has changed a lot over the last few years. The advertising segment has lost importance, while the consulting division has gained greater value thanks to the changes we have implemented in 2016. 2017 continued in the wake of what was done the previous year and a trend line was already evident in the semi-annual report. Today the goal is to get ready for this challenge on pharmacies: in recent years we have treasured what has been learned and the experience accumulated over the years in building networks. So how was your budget on Aim Italia? At the beginning the difficulties were weighed down by the lack of approval of the laws on pharmacies which, as mentioned, blocked the development plan with which we had presented ourselves on the market. This year, however, the title has recovered a lot, precisely on these expectations and on the launch of our "health box" project and that from the Spring it will be ready to be put on the market.