M&A Deal Summary

Merck Acquires Cubist Pharmaceuticals

On January 22, 2015, Merck acquired life science company Cubist Pharmaceuticals for 9.5B USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Merck’s 12th transaction in the Life Science sector.
  • This is Merck’s 4th largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is Merck’s 11th transaction in the United States.
  • This is Merck’s 3rd transaction in Massachusetts.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2015-01-22
Target Cubist Pharmaceuticals
Sector Life Science
Buyer(s) Merck
Deal Type Add-on Acquisition
Deal Value 9.5B USD
Advisor(s) Morgan Stanley
Goldman Sachs (Financial)
Ropes & Gray (Legal)

Target

Cubist Pharmaceuticals

Lexington, Massachusetts, United States
website
Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a bio-pharmaceutical company focused on the research, commercial­ization and creation of pharmaceutical products that address unmet medical needs in the acute care environment.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Merck

Rahway, New Jersey, United States

website

Category Company
Founded 1891
Sector Life Science
Employees67,000
Revenue 59.3B USD (2022)
DESCRIPTION
Merck office in Palo Alto, California.
Merck office in Palo Alto, California.

Merck is a global health care company that delivers health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. The Company’s operations are comprised of four operating segments. These include Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Consumer Care and Alliances. Merck's Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products marketed either directly by the Company or through joint ventures. Human health pharmaceutical products consist of therapeutic and preventive agents, generally sold by prescription, for the treatment of human disorders. Vaccine products consist of preventive pediatric, adolescent and adult vaccines, primarily administered at physician offices. The Company also has animal health operations that discover, develop, manufacture and market animal health products, including vaccines, which the Company sells to veterinarians, distributors and animal producers. Additionally, the Company has consumer care operations that develop, manufacture and market over-the-counter, foot care and sun care products. Merck was established in 1891 and is based in Rahway, New Jersey.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 13 of 32
Sector (Life Science) 12 of 29
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 13 of 31
State (Massachusetts) 3 of 8
Country (United States) 11 of 26
Year (2015) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 4 of 26
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2014-12-18 OncoEthix SA

Lausanne, Switzerland

OncoEthix is a privately held biotechnology company aiming to develop a small portfolio of oncology drug candidates. The Company’s lead product, OTX015, is an investigational orally administered synthetic small molecule targeted to BET bromodomain proteins 2/3/4. OTX015 was in-licensed from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation in March 2012 following completion of Phase I clinical studies in healthy volunteers.

Buy $110M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2015-09-21 Merck - Two NDAs

United States

Merck - Two NDAs consist of Corticotropin gel is a purified corticotropin (ACTH) in a sterile solution of gelatin for prolonged activity and Corticotropin-zinc hydroxide (sterile corticotropin zinc hydroxide suspension USP) is a sterile aqueous suspension of purified corticotropin (ACTH) with zinc hydroxide for repository action.

Sell $75M
Mergr

Product

Company

Legal