European Commission Clears Nycomed's Acquisition of Altana Pharma
Stockholm, Beijing, Brussels, Johannesburg, Mexico City, Washington, DC,
January 2, 2007 ... White & Case has assisted Nycomed, the Danish pharmaceuticals multinational, in obtaining the European Commission's approval for its acquisition of ALTANA Pharma AG from the German company ALTANA AG, a DAX 30 company listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The Commission cleared the transaction despite the two companies' overlaps in the anti-ulcerants markets in Belgium and Austria, and a number of other overlapping product markets in Europe. White & Case also coordinated merger filings in the US, China, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, Canada and South Africa.
Nycomed, which has some 3,300 employees in Europe, markets hospital products throughout Europe, and general practitioner and over-the-counter medicines in selected European countries. Its 2005 turnover was approximately €747.5 million.
ALTANA Pharma, headquartered in Germany, is an international pharmaceutical group with approximately 8,800 employees and over 30 subsidiaries around the world. The company researches, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of pharmaceutical products, focusing on innovative pharmaceutical products in therapeutics, self-medication products and imaging.
"Winning clearance for mergers in the pharmaceutical sector is always challenging, as it requires in-depth understanding of complex product markets and of the way different national health reimbursement schemes operate, as well as the ability to handle intellectual property issues," said Fredrik Lindblom, who led the White & Case team representing Nycomed.
The merger of Nycomed and ALTANA Pharma will enable the new company to compete more effectively against the leading multinationals in the sector and broaden its R&D portfolio.
The White & Case team representing Nycomed was led by senior associate Fredrik Lindblom, working closely with associates Irina Göransson and Carl-Gustaf Österberg in Stockholm; partner Pontus Lindfelt and associate Gry Høirup in Brussels; counsel Ellen Jakovic and associate Douglas Jasinski in Washington; associates Iker Arriola and Hernan Gonzalez in Mexico City; associates Dazhi Yang and Wenxian Chen in Beijing and Kanthimathie Rattay in Johannesburg, together with cooperating firms in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, South Korea and Taiwan. The Nycomed in-house legal team was led by General Counsel Theresa Comiskey Olsen.
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Contact: James Martin Media Relations Mgr EMEA, White & Case 44 0 20 7532 2853/ 44 0 7939 012 011
Alexandra Henderson Media Relations Executive, White & Case 44 (0) 20 7532 2848
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