Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
On 8 July 2010, the pharmaceutical group Merck & Co announced that it intended to restructure, following a merger with Schering Plough Corp in late 2009. It intends to shut down eight manufacturing plants and eight research sites around the world, reducing its manufacturing network from 91 facilities at the close of the deal in November to 77 facilities, a reduction that includes previous actions as well as this latest announcement. Merck repeated its plan to reduce its workforce by 15 percent, or about 15,000 - 16,000 jobs, depending on sources, as a result of the merger. The company has a target of achieving $3.5 billion in ongoing annual savings in 2012. With these latest plans, Merck expects the initial phases of the restructuring to result in savings of about $2.7 billion to $3.1 billion in 2012 towards the target.
Over the next two years, Merck plans to close research operations in Montreal, Canada; Boxmeer, Oss, and Schaijk, Netherlands; Odense, Denmark; Waltrop, Germany; Newhouse, Scotland; and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Beginning in the second half of 2010, Merck will cease manufacturing operations in Comazzo, Italy; Cacem, Portugal; Azcapotzalco, Mexico; Coyoacan, Mexico; Santo Amaro, Brazil, and one plant in Tuas, Singapore, where Merck will continue other operations. It intends to sell facilities in Mirador, Argentina, and Miami Lakes, Florida.
Merck said the consolidation is part of its strategy to diversify, focus on patient needs and invest in biologic drugs, emerging markets and other key areas for future growth.
Eurofound (2010), Merck & Co, Merger/Acquisition in World, factsheet number 70690, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/70690.
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