Commission calls for divestments to clear change of ownership for Merial

The European Commission is flexing its anti-trust muscles in the proposed change of hands of an animal health business, calling for divestments as part of the approval for the $25 billion asset swap transaction.

Under the EU Merger Regulation, the Commission has approved the acquisition of the animal health business of France’s Sanofi’s (Euronext: SAN) Merial by Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim (BI). The decision is conditional on the divestment of a number of animal health vaccines and pharmaceuticals.

The proposed transaction leads to a combination of two key competitors in the development, manufacturing, marketing and sale of animal health products across the European Economic Area (EEA). The Commission's investigation focused on overlaps between BI and Merial's activities in the following areas: