Merck KgaA Acquires Millipore, Launches New Division

Merck agreed to acquire Millipore on February 28, 2010 for $107 in cash per share of Millipore common stock. The closing follows the approval of the acquisition by Millipore’s shareholders and the satisfaction of other customary conditions, including antitrust clearance in the US and Europe.

Merck said that with 10,000 employees in 64 countries, Merck Millipore (EMD Millipore in the US and Canada) is expected to be headquartered in Billerica, Massachusetts/US, and supported by locations throughout the America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Merck and Millipore’s new division is expected to offer a products, technologies and services for pharma and biotech companies, as well as for academia, to improve laboratory productivity and develop and optimise manufacturing processes. Additionally, Merck Millipore is expected to have enhanced manufacturing capabilities.

Merck Millipore is expected to consist of three business units, Bioscience, Lab Solutions and Process Solutions, and each unit is expected to itself comprise a number of focus areas, known as business fields.

Karl-Ludwig Kley, chairman of the executive board of Merck, said: “With today’s launch of Merck Millipore, we are creating a partner for the life science sector with a comprehensive product offering.

“We will now move quickly to bring together the expertise and complementary capabilities of both Merck and Millipore employees to capture the opportunities in the market segments such as bio-research and bio-production.”

Bernd Reckmann, head of the Merck Millipore division and member of the executive board of Merck, said: “The increased breadth of the Merck Millipore product portfolio, together with the expertise of our people, is expected to allow us to deepen our customer relationships and gain the new insights.”