Germany's Bayer is buying Merck's familiar brands for $14.2 billion

Germany&#039;s Bayer is buying Merck&#039;s familiar brands for $14.2 billion

(Image credit: Thinkstock)

last updated 8 January 2015

There's been a high-stakes reshuffling of the deck in the global pharmaceutical industry, and the latest company to show its hand is Germany's Bayer, which said Tuesday morning that it's purchasing Merck's consumer care unit for $14.2 billion. That means the company that pioneered aspirin — and now also makes Alka-Seltzer, Aleve, and Flintstones vitamins, among other brands — will own Claratin, Afrin, Coppertone, and Dr. Scholl's foot products. But the bigger prize for Bayer, assuming the deal goes through, is that it will be the No. 2 consumer drugmaker in the world, after Johnson & Johnson.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.