Merck's acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich close to completion

Twelve months after pharmaceutical company Merck announced its intention to buy US life science company Sigma-Aldrich, steady progress has been made towards closing the deal.

On 22 September 2014, Merck revealed its agreement with Sigma-Aldrich to purchase the latter for US$17 billion — US$140 cash per share — establishing itself as one of the leading players in the US$130 billion global life science industry. The merged company will be led by Merck Millipore CEO Udit Batra.

On 11 August 2015, Sigma-Aldrich and Merck announced they had obtained all necessary antitrust approvals, with the approval of the European Commission (EC) being conditional upon the sale of parts of Sigma-Aldrich’s solvents and inorganics business in Europe. Negotiations with potential buyers are now in the final stage.

Once a binding agreement has been signed, the EC must approve the buyer before Merck can complete the Sigma-Aldrich acquisition. Completion is expected within the next two months.