STAT+: European Commission fines a Merck KGaA unit for providing misleading info prior to a merger
The European Commission fined a unit of Merck KGaA $9 million for providing incorrect or misleading information during an investigation of a deal in which the drug maker spent $17 billion to acquire Sigma-Aldrich, which was a U.S. supplier of laboratory testing materials.
The EC, which is the executive arm of the European Union, had approved the deal in June 2015, but only on the condition that the companies agreed to sell certain portions of their lab chemicals business. At the time, there were concerns the merger would reduce competition, because Merck (MKKGY) and Sigma-Aldrich were the two leading suppliers of solvents and inorganics.
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