Merck considers the possibility of acquiring larger companies from 2023

The oldest German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA, which is located in Darmstadt, announced that after a long pause it’s ready for larger-scale acquisitions again. Merck is considering the possibility of new takeovers, starting with the next year.

Despite the difficult economic situation, the company’s current midterm goal is to increase the volume of sales to 25 billion euros by 2025. For comparison, last year the volume was about 19.7 billion euros. The company’s executive board headed by the CEO Belen Garijo confirmed Merck’s intention to significantly increase the volume of sales.

Garijo also noted that the current unstable economic environment is a form of stress test for the company’s business model and strategy. Nevertheless, Merck’s position is quite sustainable. The company is presented in three business sectors, it has a sufficient cash balance, and only partially burdened by some fixed costs.

The largest Merck’s acquisition recently was Versum Materials, an American company. The deal was made in 2019 for the price of 5.8 billion euros. After this merger, the company refrained from such significant takeovers, pursuing the goal of decreasing the company’s debt burden, and focused more on the acquisitions of a smaller scale.