The formal merger announcement came as no surprise that Procter and Gamble received approval from the E.U. regulatory boards to obtain the Consumer Health business unit of Merck Germany. The acquisition has been in the works and approval was being rumored for about a month leading up to the official approval.
This is the largest acquisition for Procter & Gamble (P&G) since they obtained personal care giant, Gillette, in 2005. The consolidation of this business unit from Merck Germany will expand the reach of P&G into new markets in the European Union, Latin America, and Asia.
In accordance with this announcement today, P&G also formalized the end of their strategic joint venture with TEVA Pharmaceuticals in which they had worked for a number of years together on synergies in the Over The Counter (OTC) products space.
The growth of the OTC area is a core strategic direction for P&G within that industry. This move will allow them to grow that business and expand their existing product lines as well as determining new potential growth pathways within the OTC area.
Merck Germany is not affiliated with the U.S. based pharmaceutical company of the same name, it was essentially spun-off several years ago. The company is a big player in the industry with 900 products distributed in 44 countries. The estimates are for 3,000 employees to transfer from Merck Germany to become P&G employees should the merger gain approval.
The financial experts and Wall Street investment types view this move in a positive way for the retail channels it will impact, but have a more cautious view overall because the merged unit does not have synergy. The deal is not expected to close until the summer of 2019. The ramifications for monopolies in certain industry segments will most certainly be scrutinized by regulators in the European Union.
The potential impact on pricing for consumers on personal care products will be an area of significant concern for the anti-trust regulatory boards in the E.U. relative to this proposed merger. The combined entity will have a larger presence in muscle, joint, and back pain relief which will be a certain area of growth within the demographics of a population that is living longer overall.
Some analysts have speculated that P&G could use the technologies acquired in this transaction to bolster their existing product lines in the U.S. and North America. This is to meet increasingly sophisticated consumer demand for products that deliver more efficacy with no major side effects.
The proposal between P&G and Merck Germany also triggered the news that P&G will end their joint partnership with TEVA Pharmaceuticals. The statement from P&G called the partnership “highly successful” and it did last for seven years.
However, the partnership has always been focused on growing OTC business areas outside of the United States. The bid for Merck Germany creates a redundancy in this regard. The other official statement reads that the goals of the two companies are “no longer closely aligned”. Each side will retain their brands and will look to recalibrate their marketing strategies around those brands on an individual basis.
The merger will have more impact in other regions of the world, especially in Europe and Asia, but the North American consumer impact will be most noticeable in the potential for new or enhanced products in the respiratory, sleep, and cough/cold relief.
The other potential impact of this merger in the U.S. is the potential response by the competitors of P&G in the consumer health industry. How will Unilever, Colgate, or Johnson & Johnson respond to this merger? Pfizer is already moving through the early stages of a complete reorganization to be able to compete more effectively in a few key strategic business areas.
Then, the next area to watch is for the new competitors such as Amazon and Kroger and how they will respond to this move by P&G in the coming months. It is essentially like a big domino that could trigger a whole set of other M&A activity within consumer health.
The potential for P&G to grow in geographic areas where they have limited to no presence currently is an intriguing aspect of this proposed deal. The regulatory decision in the E.U. bears watching and the response by the competitors will shape consumer health/personal care products for the foreseeable future.
(Some background information and statistical info courtesy of Forbes, www.bizjournals.com, Pharmacy Times, and CNBC)