Bayer Animal Health allegedly in takeover discussions

Bayer Animal Health is discussing how it can expand its business, it has been reported.

The company is among the suitors competing for firms that are coming onto the market as a result of mergers among large US firms, Financial Times Deutschland reported.

Schering-Plough’s Intervet, parts of Pfizer’s animal health unit, Sanofi-Aventis’ Merial division and Merck & Co are all potential buys for Bayer, explained Bloomberg.

However, the news provider asserted Bayer’s chief executive officer Werner Wenning has ruled out the possibility of a large takeover – suggesting the purchase of Pfizer’s division is the most probable deal.

Bayer Animal health operates in 55 branches, is active in around 120 countries and employs some 2,700 staff worldwide.

Its two main markets are livestock and companion creatures, with technology leaderships focused on anti-invectives, parasiticides and FMD vaccines.

Around 37 per cent of the company’s market share is from the EU, Japan, Middle East, Russia and Africa. A further 37 per cent is from the US, with 11 per cent coming from Latin America and Asia-Pacific.