[34] Net cash flows from investing activities Audited by KPMG

In 2007, € 7,318.0 million was spent on acquisitions of and investments in other financial assets. The majority of this amount was attributable to the acquisition of Serono. Together with the acquisition of the holding company Bertarelli Biotech S.A., a total of €9,267.2 million was paid in 2007. The acquired liquid assets amount to €1,987.6 million, resulting in a total net cash outflow of €7,279.6 million. In 2006, €1,575.4 million was paid for the acquisition of Serono, resulting in a total of €8,855.0 million for the acquisition.

The disposal of non-current assets led to a net cash inflow of €4,995.8 million, which was mainly the result of the disposal of the Generics business.

The Generics business was sold for €4,900 million (net) plus compensation for cash and cash equivalents disposed of and net liabilities as well as other purchase price adjustments. This led to gross cash inflows of €5,225.7 million. After the deduction of payments due in 2007 - mainly for transaction costs and taxes - net cash inflows of € 4,828.8 million result. Along with the business, cash and cash equivalents amounting to €98.0 million were disposed of.