The Ongoing Differences: German Merck Opens New $177 Million Blarney Facilty -- While US Merck Scraps $1.2 Billion London Hub Plans...

The two companies have been completely separate since 1917 and the Treaty of Versailles. And yet, they continue to battle each other, around the globe -- in courtrooms, over disputes about which of them may use the name Merck, in various geographies. [It is beyond silly. It is wasteful -- and should have been resolved decades ago. But you've heard that opinion from me, many times before.]

They diverge in other ways as well -- clearly, the US version has been (in the last two decades) the more financially successful of the two. And so it bears watching closely, now -- what will become of the German company's decision to locate an approximately $177 million filter facility -- in Blarney, in the south of Ireland?

Most readers will recall that just two weeks ago, the US Merck said it would no longer build out a ~$1.2 billion hub -- at King's Cross Station, just north of downtown London. Yes, we will indeed watch as the two paths diverge, anew. Here's the latest, on the German / Irish foot-printing:

. . .German science and technology company Merck has launched a new filter manufacturing facility in Blarney Business Park, Cork, Ireland. It will generate more than 200 new jobs by 2028. Spanning 3,000sqm, the facility will address the global demand for critical filtration products used in vaccines and therapies. Additionally, Merck aims to minimise cross-border reliance for its customers by localising these capabilities in Europe. . . .

First announced in May 2022, the new Blarney facility is part of Merck’s $464m (€440m) investment plan in Ireland. Together with the nearby Carrigtwohill site, the company aims to expand membrane and filtration manufacturing capabilities in the country. . . .

As a side note -- despite all of Tangerine's bluster -- about Blue states being bad for business. . . California (the world's fifth largest economy, were it a stand-alone!) recently announced that both Amgen and Gilead were building / expanding new facilities there (to the tune of about $1.5 billion in the aggregate). Well done, Mr. Newsom! Onward.

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