"Hoechst Marion Roussel" - The New Merged Company

After several weeks of deliberation, Hoechst and Dow Chemical have reached agreement on the former's acquisition of Dow's pharmaceutical business, Marion Merrell Dow. The proposed deal was first confirmed a couple of months ago (Marketletter March 6), and was finally signed May 4, for Hoechst to acquire the 71% stake or 197 million MMD shares owned by Dow at a price of $25.75 per share, a total of $5.1 billion.

MMD shareholders will vote on a proposal to merge the company with Hoechst Corp; minority shareholders who own 29% of the stock are also being offered $25.75 per share. The total cost to Hoechst will be around $7.1 billion. Final approval will still be dependant on the relevant anti-trust authorities.

Headed By Godard And Markham Following the completion of the acquisition, Hoechst (which already controls the French group Roussel Uclaf) will conduct its global pharmaceutical business under the name Hoechst Marion Roussel. The senior leadership of the new company will include Jean-Pierre Godard, currently head of Hoechst's pharmaceutical division, who will become head of HMR, and Richard Markham, currently president and chief operating officer of MMD, who will assume the position of deputy head of pharmaceuticals.