The acquisition includes all of Ancare’s commercial and manufacturing operations and assets in New Zealand and in offshore markets including Australia. Financial details were not disclosed.
Managing Director for Merial Oceania, Steve Rochester, said “Ancare is a strong brand in New Zealand. There are many aspects of Ancare’s operations that we admire tremendously. It is our intention to utilize the best of both companies. With the added Ancare portfolio of production animal parasiticides, Merial will be able to offer a full range of products across many categories of animal health products for livestock, as well as Merial’s own broad range of pet treatments such as market leader Frontline® Plus.”
Colin Harvey, owner and president of Ancare, said “The acquisition of Ancare by Merial is a major success story for a New Zealand business, particularly as products developed and manufactured in New Zealand will be able to gain entry into major world markets.”
The research and development arm of Ancare has been split from the commercial operations and will operate as an entity called Ancare Scientific and will be owned and managed by Colin Harvey. Ancare Scientific, in collaboration with Merial, will develop products for Merial to be marketed globally.
“What we are essentially doing is linking to the world’s strongest parasiticide distribution network, which is what Merial has,” Harvey said. “This collective effort allows us to concentrate the attack on parasites and parasite resistance which will be of great benefit to farmers,” he said.
Merial Acquires New Zealand Animal Health Company
NEW ZEALAND - Merial Limited has acquired the New Zealand animal health products company Ancare. Merial is one of the worlds largest animal health companies.