BASF and Takeda Chemical Industries
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
German and Japanese firms announce July 28 they will combine their bulk vitamins businesses. Following regulatory approvals, the combined operation will have an estimated 30% share of the worldwide vitamins market, the companies report. BASF sales to the pharmaceutical, food and animal nutrition industries totaled roughly $500 mil. in 1999; Takeda's global sales to the same industries were approximately $240 mil. The proposed merger closely follows a landmark vitamin price-fixing case in which both BASF and Takeda pleaded guilty (1"The Tan Sheet" Sept. 13, 1999, p. 4)