Acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Receives U.S. Antitrust Clearance

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ: SIAL) announced today that the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) in connection with the acquisition expired on December 22, 2014, thereby completing the U.S. HSR Act antitrust notification and review requirement for the acquisition of the Company by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. 

U.S. antitrust clearance satisfies another condition to closing the transaction, which remains subject to certain other conditions, including regulatory approval in additional jurisdictions. Sigma-Aldrich shareholders already approved the acquisition at a special meeting held in St. Louis on December 5, 2014. Both companies continue to expect the transaction will close in mid-2015.

On September 22, 2014, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Sigma-Aldrich announced they had entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, will acquire Sigma-Aldrich for $17.0 billion (€13.1 billion), establishing one of the leading players in the $130 billion global life science industry.

Cautionary Statement: The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "expect" or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived there from. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that this or any other joint venture will assist the Company to achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding this joint venture could be affected by, among other things, the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Sigma-Aldrich:  Sigma-Aldrich, a leading Life Science and High Technology company focused on enhancing human health and safety, manufactures and distributes more than 230,000 chemicals, biochemicals and other essential products to more than 1.4 million customers globally in research and applied labs as well as in industrial and commercial markets. With three distinct business units – Research, Applied and SAFC Commercial – Sigma-Aldrich is committed to enabling science to improve the quality of life. The Company operates in 37 countries, has more than 9,000 employees worldwide and had sales of $2.7 billion in 2013. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at www.sigma-aldrich.com.

Sigma-Aldrich is a registered trademark of Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC.

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SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich Corporation

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