Hints and tips:
...It might be worth €6.5bn, based on Sanofi’s divestment of Merial, its animal health business. Trustbusters may of course demand that other assets are sold as a condition of regulatory clearance....
...The French group has been seeking to exchange its animal medicines business, Merial, with a consumer health unit owned by Germany’s Ingelheim....
...Sanofi executives also considered floating Merial but decided that an asset swap was considered the best option....
...Now Sanofi — run by a former Pfizer executive — has said it may sell Merial, its animal health unit. Merial had sales of €2.1bn in 2014, 6 per cent of the group total....
...Sanofi is divesting Merial for €11.7bn, an enterprise value of about 4.6 times its sales, roughly in line with the price Novartis obtained from Eli Lilly for a similar business....
...By taking on Sanofi’s animal health business – which is called Merial – Boehringer said it would become the second largest player in global animal health with sales of around €3.8bn....
...Merial has been performing strongly, Sanofi said, but lacked scale as the number four player in the sector....
...Under provisional terms revealed on Tuesday, Sanofi would divest its animal health unit, known as Merial, for €11.4bn and pay Boehringer €6.7bn for the consumer products, representing multiples of 4-5 times...
...He has also changed top executives at Merial, the animal health business, and will take some more direct responsibility himself, calling for greater focus on emerging market sales....
...Sanofi is Greater Lyon’s biggest private-sector employer, thanks to two other divisions of the group, Genzyme and Merial....
...de Soie in the north-west, targets technology, environmental and energy companies, while the more recent Gerland southern district is home to a cluster of biotechnology groups, including Sanofi Pasteur, Merial...
...Sanofi’s Merial animal health division plans to launch a new chewable formulation in 2014 of its “blockbuster” Frontline anti-tick treatment that was exposed to generic competition last year....
...They include Merial, a subsidiary of Sanofi of France....
...Frank Milward, Merial US I manage a group of 35 technicians, scientists and veterinarians, researching and developing pharmaceutical products for animals....
...Sanofi-Aventis plans to cut costs and expand its animal health business through acquisitions as it fully integrates Merial after the collapse of its longstanding joint venture with Merck of the US....
...Only last month, Merck stated that delays meant the integration of Merial was now only due to be completed by the third quarter this year....
...Merck maintains a development and marketing partnership for vaccines in Europe with Sanofi-Aventis, and until the recent collapse of talks it was planning a renewal of Merial, its long-standing partnership...
...ago, Mr Viehbacher paid $1.9bn for Chattem, maker of Selsun Blue shampoo, gaining a foothold in the US consumer health care market; and $4bn – his largest amount – to buy the remaining 50 per cent of its Merial...
...The transaction recreates Merial, Sanofi-Aventis’s previous joint venture with Merck....
...Chris Viehbacher, chief executive of the French pharmaceutical group, confirmed as “highly probable” the option to combine its subsidiary Merial with the Intervet and Schering-Plough businesses now controlled...
...Intervet/Schering-Plough was subsequently valued at $8.5bn, compared with $8bn for Merial....
...As part of the agreement, Sanofi also bought the option to merge Merial with Intervet, the veterinary business of Schering-Plough, now controlled by Merck....
...Sanofi-Aventis on Friday confirmed completion after regulatory approval of its $4bn buy-out of Merck’s 50 per cent stake in Merial, giving it full control in a deal provisionally agreed in July....
...Sanofi-Aventis of France has also sought to expand its portfolio, reinvesting in Merial, an enlarged joint-venture for animal health with Merck, the New Jersey-based US group, alongside generic deals and...
...Sanofi-Aventis, the French pharmaceutical group, is to buy out joint venture partner Merck’s stake in Merial, the animal health business, for $4bn to take full control of the company....
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