German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to divest five types of animal health products to settle charges that a proposed asset swap with Sanofi would harm competition, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.
The proposed asset swap involved Boehringer Ingelheim’s acquisition of Sanofi’s $13.5 billion animal care subsidiary and Sanofi’s obtaining the Germany company’s consumer health care business unit, valued at nearly $8 billion, plus $5.5 billion in cash, the FTC said in a statement.
Without the divestitures, the proposed swap “would harm competition in the U.S. markets for various vaccines for companion animals (pets) and certain parasite control products for cattle and sheep,” the commission said.