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A Tepid Wedding, Now A Possible Divorce

The year-old union of bioMerieux-Pierre Fabre appears to be on the verge of disintegrating, amid lack of a coherent strategy, disagreements between the two founders who spearheaded the deal, and departure of key top executives. The company won't comment except to say that it is considering various alternatives including a break-up. Unraveling should not be difficult, since the two companies haven't integrated much. And the separation would leave bioMerieux, now the world's eighth largest diagnostics company, and Pierre Fabre, one of France's largest independent pharmaceutical companies, free to seek more appropriate solutions to the challenges they face.

When French newspapers reported in late January that bioMerieux-Pierre Fabre SA was ending its year-old merger, few knowledgeable people were surprised. The union in January 2001 created France's largest independent pharmaceutical company [See Deal]. (See "BioMerieux and Pierre Fabre's Surprise," IN VIVO, October 2000 [A#2000800180.) But the rationale behind it—to better compete in consolidating industries—remained unconvincing.

As the world's eighth largest diagnostics company, bioMerieux SA's expertise has been in infectious diseases. Pierre Fabre SA, one of a dwindling number of family-owned French pharmaceutical companies, is known...

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