Elanco Animal Health agreed to buy Bayer’s veterinary drugs unit on Tuesday, August 20, in a cash and stock deal valued at US$7.6 billion, creating the second largest maker of medicines for pets and livestock and expanding Elanco’s reach online.The deal is the latest in the fast-growing animal health market, which has recently seen Elanco floated by Eli Lilly and rival US drugmaker Pfizer also spinning off its veterinary medicine business.
It also adds to the list of assets sold by Bayer, as the German company looks to slash debt from its US$63 billion takeover of seed maker Monsanto last year and as it braces for a potential settlement of lawsuits over an alleged cancer-causing effect of weedkiller Roundup.
It pledged that under the sale, “all Bayer Animal Health employees will have at least one year of employment protection against unilateral termination with similar and no less favourable benefits in the aggregate”.
Full Content: Wall Street Journal
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