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www.fdanews.com/articles/73388-novartis-buys-hexal-plans-for-acquisition-of-eon-labs

Novartis Buys Hexal, Plans for Acquisition of Eon Labs

June 15, 2005

Novartis has completed its acquisition of German drugmaker Hexal, moving the company one step closer to becoming the industry's largest generic pharmaceutical firm.

The Hexal acquisition was approved by the European Union (EU) last month after Novartis agreed to resolve certain competitive issues by divesting three of Hexal's product lines in Poland, Germany and Denmark.

Novartis is now in the process of seeking U.S. regulatory approval for the second part of the deal: the purchase of Hexal's U.S.-based sister company Eon Labs. The FTC in April submitted a second request to Novartis for additional information about its acquisition of Eon. Novartis said it is cooperating with the FTC and hopes to complete the Eon purchase before the end of the year.

A Novartis spokesman recently said that the company will likely have to make some product divestments in the U.S. to get the merger approved, but he said the details of those sales are still being worked out.