When a proposed European Union merger or joint venture transaction presents essentially no anti-competitive (ECC) concerns, by rule, the ECC usually clears the transaction within 25 business days.
In this case, we'll wait to see if the ECC extends the review of the first step of these transactions -- Merck's transfer of its remaining interest in Merial back to Sanofi-Aventis -- onto the next higher level of reiew -- a 35 business day review (or until September 29, 2009), by rule (click at right, to enlarge).
. . . .Depending upon the comments received, and the Commission's views, that 35 business-day period may be extended -- up to 105 business-days. . . .
And. . . the expiry of 105 business-days from August 11, 2009 is Tuesday, January 5, 2010. To be fair, the 105 day review is more likely to be triggered by the Intevet call option portion of the transaction, and the above imaged notice applies only to the less-problematic Merial back to Sanofi portion of these deals.
[Search the term "Merial" -- on this site, in the seach box at the top of the page, to see the five sets of comments I've submitted to the ECC -- on that.]
Have a safe and sanguine Labor Day weekend, one and all. . . .
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