The European Union approved the acquisition of Novartis AG's
(NVS) Animal Health business by U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli
Lilly and Co. (LLY), after its investigation confirmed the
transaction wouldn't harm competition in the bloc.
The European commission, the EU's executive arm, said Friday the
sale of Novartis's Animal Health business to Eli Lily would create
an overlap between the activities of the two companies, which are
focused on the markets for animal health products. However, it
wouldn't harm competition in the sector, "because a number of
strong players would remain in the markets after the merger."
The commission's investigation focused on markets for animal
health products in several EU countries such as Belgium, France and
Greece and found that "competitors will remain active after the
merger and could become a competitive constraint to the merged
entity," it said.
The transaction was notified to the commission on August 29.
Write to Viktoria Dendrinou at Viktoria.Dendriou@wsj.com
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