July 17, 2020

Neogen plans to acquire US rightsto Elanco's cattle insecticide

NEOGEN Corporation announced July 16 that, in line with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) July 15 press release, it plans to acquire the US rights to Elanco's StandGuard^® Pour-on for horn fly and lice control in beef cattle, and related assets.

Closing remains subject to a final FTC consent decree for closing of Elanco's acquisition of Bayer AG's global animal health business.

StandGuard Pour-on is one of the leading products in the domestic beef cattle insecticide market, and represents an exceptional fit in Neogen's existing agricultural insecticide portfolio and organisational capabilities, the company said.

"Elanco's divestiture of its StandGuard product is an unexpected opportunity that we could not pass on," said John Adent, Neogen's president and chief executive officer. "The product is a true bolt-on to complement our existing agricultural biosecurity infrastructure. This acquisition will provide NEOGEN immediate sales opportunities post-closing, along with both new registrations and access to the gamma-cyhalothrin active."

In a press statement, the FTC's complaint alleges that the proposed Elanco-Bayer acquisition would harm US competition in the market for brand-name cattle pour-on insecticides.

With that market already highly concentrated, the proposed acquisition would allow the third largest competitor, Elanco, which makes StandGuard, to acquire the market leader, Bayer.

Neogen entered the agricultural insecticide market with its 2014 acquisition of Chem-Tech,  gaining the insecticide brandProzap® that is well known in the large animal production industryand is particularly popular with dairy and equine producers, and an extensive manufacturing and distribution facility in Pleasantville, Iowa.