Merck Acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich receives conditional clearance from European Commission

Sigma-Aldrich’s acquisition by Merck has been conditionally cleared by the European Commission, and has received full clearance from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Merck and Sigma have already cleared from antitrust authorities in Japan, USA, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, South Africa & Taiwan, but are awaiting approval from representatives in Brazil, Israel and South Korea before the deal can close. Having announced the $17 billion agreement in September 2014, both companies are continuing to work towards a closing date of mid-2015.

To satisfy the conditions imposed by the EC for clearance of the Transaction, both Sigma-Aldrich, and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, have agreed to sell parts of Sigma-Aldrich’s solvents and inorganics chemicals business in the European Economic Area as a fully integrated, stand-alone business.  This includes the rights to all solvents and inorganics sold globally under the Fluka® brand.

Sigma-Aldrich originally acquired the Fluka brand in 1989 to expand their European presence, doubling the size of the Fluka catalogue by 1999. The Fluka product portfolio continues to grow by approximately 1000 products annually, and the company’s annual global turnover is more than $160 million.

Read the full press release here.

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