Franfurt: Germany’s Bayer AG has trumped rival bidders for Merck & Co Inc’s consumer care business in a $14.2 billion deal, adding to a string of major cross-border deals in the healthcare industry.
“This acquisition marks a major milestone on our path towards global leadership in the attractive non-prescription medicines business,” Bayer’s chief executive Marijn Dekkers said in a statement.
Merck said it expects after-tax proceeds of between $8 billion and $9 billion from the sale, which is expected to close in the second half of 2014. The transaction, the largest in the German healthcare industry since Bayer bought rival Schering in 2006, will make Bayer the second biggest generic maker after Johnson & Johnson, as it seeks to make better use of its distribution network and sales force.
“We can take these products and market them more forcefully than Merck has been able to do so far,” Mr Dekkers said in a conference call with analysts.
Bayer, the inventor of aspirin and maker of Bepanthen skin care products and Canesten antifungal creams, has repeatedly said it wants to overtake J&J in the rankings. Drug makers have embarked on a major reshuffling of their business portfolios.
Novartis and GSK last month agreed to trade more than $20 billion worth of assets, while AstraZeneca is fighting off a $106 billion takeover approach from Pfizer.
Meanwhile companies like France’s Sanofi, Merck & Co and Abbott are looking at selling off mature drugs that have lost patent protection.
