P&G; to Acquire a Key Line of Searle’s Drugs : Buying Over-the-Counter Unit From Monsanto
In its second major pharmaceutical purchase in a little more than a month, Procter & Gamble said Monday that it has reached an agreement to acquire the over-the-counter drug business of G. D. Searle & Co. from Monsanto for an undisclosed amount of cash.
P&G;, the Cincinnati-based company that markets Tide detergent, Crest toothpaste and other well-known consumer products, is acquiring a Searle manufacturing facility in Phoenix as well as such medications as Dramamine, a treatment for motion sickness; Metamucil, a laxative, and Icy Hot, a pain-relieving ointment.
The deal also includes several dozen other Searle over-the-counter products that are only sold overseas. Under the agreement, Skokie, Ill.-based Searle, which itself was acquired by St. Louis-based Monsanto only last July and is best known as the maker of NutraSweet, will continue to market these products abroad for up to five years.
Richardson-Vicks Purchase
Searle does not break out the sales of its over-the-counter business. About half of its $1.2 billion in 1984 sales was from NutraSweet.
Just 34 days ago, P&G; came to the aid of Richardson-Vicks, a Wilton, Conn.-based beauty and health-care products firm that had been a target of an unfriendly takeover attempt by Unilever, a Dutch conglomerate. P&G; said Monday that it was extending its $1.2-billion, or $69-a-share, tender offer for Richardson-Vicks common stock until 5 p.m. EST today. The offer was originally scheduled to expire Nov. 1.
P&G; closed at a new high, $64.50, up 37.5 cents, in Monday’s trading. Monsanto closed up 25 cents at $45.
A spokeswoman for P&G; said the Searle acquisition will enable the company to move into new product categories that are logical extensions of its current brands. The transaction is subject to government approval and is expected to be completed in 60 days.
Soon after Monsanto bought Searle, it said it intended to sell Searle’s consumer products businesses because it did not fit the company’s long-term strategy of concentrating on the chemical business, which includes NutraSweet. However, the sale to P&G; does not include Equal, Searle’s table-top version of NutraSweet. A Searle spokesman said Equal is still for sale.
Searle’s over-the-counter drug group employs about 630 persons, of which 330 are employed at the Phoenix plant. Another 130 are in administration and research at Searle headquarters in Skokie, and 170 others are scattered across the country. P&G; said the business will become part of its health-care and personal-care group.
