BRIEF—Merck to acquire privately-held Antelliq Group

US pharma giant Merck & Co has reached agreement to acquire privately held Antelliq Group from funds advised by BC Partners.

Antelliq will be a wholly-owned and separately operated subsidiary within the Merck Animal Health Division.

Merck will make a cash payment of around 2.1 billion euros ($2.37 billion) to acquire all outstanding shares of Antelliq and will assume Antelliq’s debt of 1.15 billion euros, which it intends to repay shortly after the closing of the acquisition.

Antelliq is a leader in digital animal identification, traceability and monitoring solutions, the fastest growing part of the animal health industry, with 360 million euros in sales in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2018.

These solutions help veterinarians, farmers and pet owners gather critical data to improve management, health and well-being of livestock and pets.

The increasing use of digital technology in animal agriculture is driven by the growing demand for protein, food traceability and food safety.

Identification and monitoring technologies will help optimize disease prediction and treatment and this acquisition will provide Merck Animal Health with a large, established customer base in both areas.