FRANKFURT, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- German multinational pharmaceutical company Bayer AG announced Tuesday that it will sell its animal health division for 7.6 billion U.S. dollars to the U.S.-based company Elanco Animal Health Inc.
Of the transaction, 5.3 billion dollars will be paid in cash and the remaining 2.3 billion dollars will be paid in Elanco shares, according to the company.
The exit of the animal health business is the largest transaction in the series of portfolio measures initiated by Bayer in November 2018, the company said in a note.
After acquiring Bayer's animal health unit, Elanco will become the second largest animal health company in the world, only behind the U.S. manufacturer Zoetis.
"This transaction enhances our focus as a global leader in life sciences," Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG, said in the online note.
Jeffrey N. Simmons, president and CEO of Elanco, praised the merger as "complementary."
"Combining Elanco's strong relationship with veterinarians and Bayer's leadership in retail and e-commerce will ultimately benefit all our customers," Simmons said also in the note.
Bayer's animal health business recorded sales of 1.8 billion dollars in fiscal 2018. The company is well known for its flea, tick and worm control products under the brand Advantage and the Seresto collar for dogs.
The animal health division, with about 3,700 employees, is the smallest division in the Bayer Group, accounting for about 3 percent of Bayer's total workforce, according to the German news agency DPA.
The Leverkusen-based Bayer Group employed around 117,000 people and had sales of 39.6 billion euros (about 43.9 billion U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2018.
The stocks of Bayer AG climbed to 67.02 euros per share in Tuesday's morning trading.
Latest comments