Teva to acquire Ratiopharm for $5B U.S.

From the Montreal Gazette:
Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the world's leading generic drug producer, is buying German-based Ratiopharm for $5 billion U.S., beating out Pfizer Inc. and Actavis Group.

Privately held Ratiopharm was put up for sale by the Merkle family of Germany last June and the nine-month auction process was finally completed Friday. Ratiopharm is a major German generic drug producer with subsidiaries in Canada and the U.S. The combined company will have annual sales of more than $16 billion U.S. Teva to acquire Ratiopharm for $5B U.S.