It is Merck!

Just published on Bloomberg: Novartis plans to swap Animal Health plus Vaccines against Merck OTC. What does this mean for us?

 

It means that in our territories it will be one of us or the Merck rep. Same for RM's. Merck is known for cutting head counts so you can be sure a large displacement will take place if the deal is cut.

 

Merck is poorly run and treats the employees badly. Look to change careers unless you like to be crapped on every day.

 

I second this. Leadership and good management are non-existent. I'm on the small animal team - maybe it's different elsewhere, but this place is generally a mess all the way up the chain.

 

It means you can't read. Every report has said Novartis is weighing its options. Nothing is final, and the company still has many scenarios to explore. BI, Elanco, and others have all expressed interest in purchasing the company, so selling is still an option. As is a spin off.

Novartis Corp is cash rich, with billions in cash reserves. The potential sale is not as attractive as a swap, which kills 2 birds with one stone: moving less productive units, and strengthening position in another. Remember, a lot of the same rhetoric was flying as Pfizer went through this process last year. Their intention was to drum up interest and news coverage to prop up an IPO in a spin off of Zoetis. They never intended to sell, as a spin off resulted in the net gain of billions of dollars in tax advantages from creating a new company as opposed to selling the current one.

Before you post absolutes about what you "read" on Bloomberg, read more carefully. Do you not think more than one news outlet would have reported the finalized deal? This is why the internet is so dangerous. Anyone is allowed to view it, and then post their analysis of what they read. Stick to the sites with lots of pictures and fewer words. We will inform you when something happens.

 

The prime reason a swap is attractive to Novartis is that with their enormous cash reserves they have no need or desire to add to the cash reserve. A swap would place them as a major consumer health care company where as a spin off of a small animal health division would result in little or no public interest. Bloomberg and CNBC and Reuters are not third line internet blogs. They are legitimate news organizations. This deal is being positioned as if it is already done. Merck has instituted a 100 day merger strategy and top Merck and Novartis management are projecting an official announcement soon. I do not know who we is but stop looking at the pictures and read from the legitimate sources what is about to happen. Good luck . Having been through this type of transaction my advice is to hold tight for the bumpy ride and keep your parachute in good working order.

 

Business swap and then an IPO is a done deal. Merck will be the king of the industry. Fle, Tick, vaccine, heartworm, NSAiDS, otics, the list goes on and on. Sorry Novartis reps. However we will need a few of you.

 

As a Merck rep I can tell you that many of my colleagues leave a great deal to be desired. I believe many of the current Novartis reps will be retained with many current Merck reps terminated. We , Merck, missed our number badly in 2013 and I know that a number of our reps are being scrutinized and will be displaced.

 

Merck terminates reps more often than I change my underwear. No one is safe ever. Kiss stability goodbye, if you have it currently.

 

Ha! Very true but you won't have to worry about that! You aren't going to be bought or Swapped by Merck. They don't want you--you have nothing to offer them, especially since they resigned their heska contract for hw preventative. This last round of layoffs that Merck did was to clean house of the drama divas and dead weight and the previous layoff was to get rid of people that weren't working. Job well done, Merck management. They don't need to acquire more drama divas, slackers and dead weight.

 

You couldn't be more wrong. Swap is almost complete. I know for a fact MAH will beintegrating NAH soon!

 

Slow down on the Kool aid, kid! As much as you want to believe and want it to happen, it's not going down. I thought so too. It was confirmed this week that it isn't happening. Don't bank on it. I wouldn't buy up stock or anything!!

 

Kool-aid? Swap is a done deal and announcement coming by end of month. Merck announces earnings tomorrow and will reiderate a swap is happening. Sorry, but NAH is gone.

 

Nope. You are wrong again. Merck doesn't want NAH. NAH is a hot mess! Nobody wants them!

 

I work for MAH. This is nonsense. They left plenty of "dead weight and slackers" and many of those they fired were neither.

 

A Merck angel emerged... Here, use this fairy dust and click your heels three times and maybe someone will call you their own!

Pathetic! Nobody wants you! Merck is not dumb enough to buy you/trade for you! Look at your new sentinel! I would be embarrassed to sell it--and where did all of your other products go? Brush up those resumes and find another job. Your future is not bright!

 

New sentinel is amazing, real beef chewy. What other products are you talking about?

 

New Sentinel will be market leader by 2015. Guaranteed!

 

There is no way! You are either in market or FOB. It's better than old sentinel but won't make it as market leader. Very cute, though. Would you like some more sugar for your Kool-aid?

 

Keep it civil people. NAH seems to suffer from a lack of decision-making from the mother ship...reluctance to invest in animal health. Merck suffers from the Intervet hang-over, short term thinking and a leadership vacuum. Merck will do anything to make their numbers and does not treat its people well. BI and Elanco will benefit and grow in this current environment because, while slow to move, their strategy seems sound...longer term thinking. Look for Elanco to buy NAH as their larger entree into vaccines. Novartis will buy Merck consumer goods outright to shed cash and become large enough to work the consumer market product lines. Given the dominance of the European vaccine group within MAH and the failures on the small molecule side look to MAH to continue to lose market share in the USA to Zoetis and Elanco, ineffectiveness in foreign markets such as China and desperate acquisitions of smaller hopefulls?