February 22, 2005
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG announces agreement to acquire Hexal AG of Germany and its affiliate Willkie client Eon Labs of New York for $8.4 billion in cash.
As reported widely in the international press, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Novartis AG, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, announced on February 21 that it has agreed to acquire Hexal AG of Germany and its affiliate Willkie client Eon Labs of New York for $8.4 billion in cash. The deal is expected to create the world’s biggest maker of generic drugs. As part of the transaction, Novartis will launch a $989 million tender offer for all outstanding publicly held Eon shares. The Willkie team representing Eon includes partners Steven Seidman, David Boston, Theodore Whitehouse, Stephen Greiner, Tariq Mundiya, and Markus Wenserski; special counsel Jonathan Konoff; and associates Laura Delanoy, Matthew Lux, Suzanne Sylvester, David Mrazik, Thomas O'Grady, Christoph Schmid and Kirsten Taylor. As noted in the February 22 edition of The New York Times and the February 24 New York Law Journal, Willkie provided legal advice to Eon Labs in this landmark deal. Eon is one of the leading suppliers of generic pharmaceutical products in the U.S.
