Cherokee has also entered into a five-year supply agreement with Merck for an estimated value of $100-200 million annually.
The Cherokee plant is a active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facility of products/antibiotics for humans and animals. All 400 employees working at the plant will be offered jobs and are expected to transfer their employment from Merck to PRWT effective January 1, 2008. PRWT also intends to make considerable capital investments in the Cherokee plant to support the growth of the business and increase the number of jobs available in the local community.
The sale of the site is said to be part of Merck’s global restructuring of its manufacturing operations to create a global manufacturing network that is better aligned to Merck’s current and anticipated future product demand.
Willie Johnson, chairman & CEO of PRWT, said: “By establishing a presence in the Life Sciences market, PRWT can now participate in an industry with tremendous growth potential and establish a strategic supplier relationship with Merck, one of the premier pharmaceutical companies in the world.”