Roussel Uclaf Consolidating In Hoechst Marion Roussel

Roussel Uclaf of France had a "wholly satisfactory" performance in 1995, said Jean-Pierre Godard, chairman of the company, the future of which is now intrinsically linked to the success of Hoechst Marion Roussel, a product of the wave of consolidation in the global pharmaceutical industry (Marketletters passim). Mr Godard, speaking at RU's annual press and financial analysts' meeting in Paris, France, last week, said that HMR's aim is to become the world leader in the pharmaceutical sector and that RU's expansion will gain momentum from its presence in the HMR group.

Jurgen Dormann, chairman of Hoechst, recently fuelled speculation around Hoechst hiving off its pharmaceuticals business and the possibility of a merger (Marketletter May 13). When asked about the implications of this for Roussel Uclaf, Mr Godard told the Marketletter that what Mr Dormann said was hypothetical. "Before HMR can go to the market as a single entity, it has to show that it can deliver the goods," he said, "and results in 1996 and 1997 will show this." Mr Godard said that the merged business has to demonstrate that it can provide value to potential shareholders, but that at the moment the business was not really "palatable" to investors.

Most of 1995 was taken up with establishing HMR through the acquisition by Hoechst of Marion Merrell Dow and RU's takeover of Dow Chemical's Latin American pharmaceutical activities. RU holds capital in various HMR joint ventures around the world and participates with Hoechst AG in the joint control of these companies, according to Mr Godard.