Merck has announced the completion of its $17 billion acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich, creating one of the leaders in the $130 billion global industry to help solve the toughest problems in life science.

The completion follows last week's approval from the European Commission, which was the final antitrust condition required to close the Sigma-Aldrich transaction. Following the acquisition, Merck will have around 50,000 employees in 67 countries, working at 72 manufacturing sites worldwide.

"The acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich marks the culmination of almost a decade of transformation, further affirming that Merck is a leading science and technology company," said Mr Karl-Ludwig Kley, CEO and chairman of Merck. "We're now a leading player in the $130 billion global life science industry and together with our two other growth platforms Healthcare and Performance Materials, Merck is set to tackle global challenges that will fundamentally change the world in which we live."

With the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich, Merck will be able to serve lifescience customers around the world with a highly attractive set of established brands such as SAFC and BioReliance, in addition to Millipore and Milli-Q, as well as an efficient supply chain that can support the delivery of more than 300,000 products. The company will cover every step of the biotech production chain, creating a complete end-to-end workflow with enhanced customer service, a simplified customer interface and a leading distribution platform.

To ensure a smooth integration, Merck has made significant progress on integration planning for the new business, which will be named Merck all across the world, except for the US and Canada, where the business will be named MilliporeSigma. The future organization will tap into the industry-leading talent of both legacy organizations, with a focus on promoting customer centricity, continuous innovation and strengthened capabilities.

"With the acquisition complete, we can now start tackling the challenge of solving the toughest problems in life science by collaborating with the global scientific community and helping to increase access to healthcare. We are excited to begin leveraging the proven operational excellence of our organizations to provide a growing customer base with more efficient and innovative solutions," said Mr Udit Batra, president and CEO of the life science business of Merck. "We've designed the new organization to fully tap into our combined capabilities, particularly in integrated supply chain operations, information technology and e-commerce."

Sigma-Aldrich's SAFC Commercial business, excluding the SAFC Hitech business, will be part of Merck's Life Science business sector. The SAFC Hitech business will be integrated into Merck's Performance Materials business and will operate as part of its Integrated Circuits business unit. SAFC Hitech and Merck's Performance Materials businesses offer complementary technologies, making these two businesses a natural fit.