European Commission clears planned acquisition of Ratiopharm by Teva, subject to conditions

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed $3.6 billion acquisition of the German generic pharmaceutical company Ratiopharm by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, in a deal which beat other offers from the likes of Pfizer and Actavis (The Pharma Letter March 19).

The decision is conditional upon the divestment of 15 products in the Netherlands and one in Hungary. The Commission said it had concerns that the parties' high combined market shares for these products, together with their overall post-merger strength in the Netherlands, could have harmed competition on these markets. In the light of the commitments, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

Teva said in brief statement that it has made certain limited commitments, which are anticipated to have only a marginal effect on the combined companies' activities. Teva now plans to close the transaction in the near future. Earlier this week, the Canadian competition authority cleared the merger, again with a requirement to divest certain products (TPL August 3)