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news.Bayer AG has acquired its fellow German drug maker Schering AG for an inflated E17 billion, or about $21.5 billion, after Merck KGaA cleared the way for the deal to be completed by agreeing to sell its 21.8% stake in the company.
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Merck, which in March made its own bid for Schering, agreed to sell its recently increased stake in Schering for E89 per share. All Schering shareholders who had tendered their shares at the initial offer price of E86 will now receive the higher price.
In order to complete its takeover, Bayer had to acquire 75% of shares in Schering by Thursday morning, a task that was made considerably more difficult when Merck increased its stake to 21.8% when it bought 2.1 million Schering shares earlier this week.
It is assumed that Bayer has now reached the 75% threshold although an official statement is not expected from the company until June 22nd.
Bayer also announced that it will withdraw its legal action against Merck for not publicly declaring its intention to purchase the Schering shares.
“We’re very pleased about Merck’s decision, because a lengthy competitive bidding process would have greatly affected Schering’s future,” said Bayer management board chairman Werner Wenning. “All three companies concerned will benefit from this step. We are very optimistic that we can now secure at least the three-quarters of Schering’s capital stock that we were aiming for, enabling us to quickly begin the integration process.”