Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. and Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. said Monday they have signed a definitive agreement to merge April 1, 2005, to create the nation's second-largest drugmaker in terms of group sales.
The new company will be called Astellas Pharma Inc.
The deal is aimed at creating "a completely new company that possesses a highly competitive edge, not only in the Japanese pharmaceutical market but also in the global pharmaceutical market," the two companies said in a joint statement.
Yamanouchi will be the surviving company in the deal, which is subject to approval by the two companies' shareholders at their general meetings slated for June 24.
Fujisawa will be dissolved and one Fujisawa share will be exchanged for 0.71 Astellas share.
Toichi Takenaka, president and chief executive officer of Yamanouchi, will become president and CEO of Astellas, while Fujisawa President and CEO Hatsuo Aoki will become board chairman.
The new company's business strategies and financial targets will be announced in November.
The merged company will have annual sales of nearly 900 billion yen, leapfrogging ahead of Sankyo Co. and settling behind industry leader Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd., whose global sales totaled 1.046 trillion yen in fiscal 2002. It will place 17th in the world.