Leading Japanese wholesalers cancel merger

Mediceo Paltac and Alfresa Holdings, Japanese number one and two drug wholesalers, respectively, have cancelled their previously-announced  plans to merge, which would have created at powerhouse with annual sales  of 4,000.0 billion yen ($44.4 billion), reports Pharma Japan.

Explaining their decision, the two firms blamed it on the Japanese Fair  Trade Commission, whose review of the deal is not expected to be  completed by April. This delay, they say, cancels out the expected  synergistic effects of the proposed merger. Mediceo's president,  Sadatake Kumakura, told a press conference that "the business of both  companies will be exposed to great risk if we prolong the planned merger  without knowing whether or not, and when, it will be approved by the  FTC."