Markets Wired

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that Boehringer Ingelheim’s $13.53 billion asset swap with Paris-based Sanofi would likely be anticompetitive.

First announced in December 2016, the FTC’s complaint alleged that as proposed, the swap would likely harm competition in the U.S. markets for various vaccines for companion animals, or pets, and certain parasite control products for cattle and sheep.

The order requires that Boehringer Ingelheim divest the canine, feline and rabies vaccines identified in the complaint to Eli Lilly and Company and its Elanco Animal Health division, and the parasite control products to Bayer AG.
The Commission vote approving the final order was 3-0. (FTC File No. 161 0077; the staff contact is Michael Barnett, Bureau of Competition, 202-326- 2362.)

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