This Pet Stock Just Bought an Animal Health Business for $7.6 Billion

Based in Indiana, Elanco Animal Health (NYSE: ELAN) develops products and services that treat diseases in pets and commercial animals around the world. Just two short years after being spun off from Eli Lilly, Elanco has taken a bold step by acquiring Bayer Animal Health in a $7.6 billion move that establishes it as the second-largest animal health company in the world by revenue (behind Zoetis).

The deal was announced in August 2019 and was financed with $5.2 billion in cash and 72.9 million shares of Elanco. Management believes Bayer will help it strengthen its focus on the connections between pet health and farm animal health, as well as providing new research and development capabilities that will help expand the portfolio of pet and farm products and generate future cash flow growth.

The deal will triple Elanco's international footprint, and that greater scale should help the combined company cut better distribution agreements and allow it to reach more customers.

Source Fool.com