Danaher-GE BioPharma approved in South Korea, with bioprocessing divestment conditions
By Choi Hyung-jo ( February 4, 2020, 03:43 GMT | Insight) -- Danaher’s proposed acquisition of GE BioPharma has been cleared in South Korea, conditional on a divestment package. The Korea Fair Trade Commission has granted approval to Danaher’s $21.4 billion acquisition of the biopharma unit of GE Healthcare's Life Sciences, an affiliate of General Electric, on condition that eight of the companies’ bioprocessing businesses be divested.
Danaher's proposed acquisition of GE BioPharma has been cleared in South Korea, conditional on a divestment package.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission has granted approval to Danaher's $21.4 billion acquisition of the biopharma unit of GE Healthcare's Life Sciences, an affiliate of General Electric, on condition that eight of the companies' bioprocessing businesses be divested (see here).
During the investigation, the regulator designated 32 different product markets as relevant, in eight of which the regulator raised competition concerns. They were: microcarriers, single-use low pressure liquid chromatography (LPLC) skid, conventional LPLC column, affinity resin, ion exchange resin, blending resin, continuous chromatography skid and label-free analysis.
The US medical equipment manufacturer Danaher announced last February that it will acquire GE BioPharma, which specializes in making equipment, software and specialty materials for pharmaceutical companies (see here). The deal was filed to the KFTC in May (see here).
In the microcarriers market, the regulator determined that the size of the market share by the merged company will come to 71.7 percent, far ahead of the runner-up whose market share stands at 13.61 percent.
During the standing committee hearing on January 22 (see here), KFTC investigators said that the possibility of unilateral conduct by the merged company could increase as a result of widening gap with its competitors.
The officials also determined that it's difficult for customers to substitute the merged company's products with those of its competitors in the eight product markets. The investigators also said that the company could suspend the production of certain products and reduce product choice available for buyers, not to mention a possible price hike....
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