Merck seeks EU approval to buy Schering-Plough
TRENTON, N.J. — Drugmaker Merck & Co. filed papers with regulators in the European Union seeking approval of its planned acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp.
“We are formally seeking approval for the merger in the EU now that we have divested our interest in Merial,” Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said Monday.
Last Friday, Merck completed its $4 billion sale of its half interest in the Merial Ltd. veterinary medicine business to its partner, French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA.
European Union regulators had previously told Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., that such a divestiture would be needed before they could approve the deal. That’s because Schering-Plough, based in Kenilworth, N.J., also sells animal health products through its Intervet division.
Merck expects the European Union to issue a ruling on the Schering-Plough acquisition by Oct. 23.
The two companies have said they expect the $41.1 billion deal to close in the fourth quarter. Shareholders of both companies approved the deal on Aug. 7 and the companies have settled litigation by shareholders opposed to it, but they still need approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
The deal is structured as a reverse merger, with Schering-Plough technically acquiring Merck but the better-known Merck name surviving.
That was done to try to preserve roughly $2 billion a year in revenue Schering-Plough gets from a partnership selling the biotech arthritis drugs Remicade and Simponi with Johnson & Johnson. J&J is seeking to claim that revenue through arbitration, claiming a provision in their partnership agreement entitles it to all the revenue because of the change of control at Schering-Plough.
Most of the combined company’s executives and board members will come from Merck rather than Schering-Plough.
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