The total assets of the Merck Group amounted to EUR 22,388 million as of December 31, 2010. This corresponds to an increase of EUR 5,675 million or 34% over December 31, 2009. The most significant impact on the balance sheet structure was the acquisition of Millipore and the financing thereof. To finance the acquisition, a bond consisting of several tranches with a total volume of EUR 3.2 billion was issued during 2010. The equity ratio declined from 56.9% at the beginning of 2010 to 46.3% on December 31, 2010. Apart from profit after tax amounting to EUR 642 million, positive currency effects from the development of foreign currencies versus the euro increased equity by around EUR 841 million.
Within the scope of the purchase price allocation for the Millipore acquisition, the acquired assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities have been recognized at fair values in the balance sheet. This primarily led to an increase in intangible assets by around EUR 5,264 million. This includes the goodwill from the transaction amounting to EUR 2,704 million. The fair value adjustments made within the scope of the purchase price allocation are to be considered as preliminary, with the exception of the measurement of inventories in the balance sheet as of the date of first-time consolidation. As a result of the acquisition, net debt increased to around EUR 4,484 million as of December 31. Primarily owing to the positive development of cash flow, net debt since the acquisition declined during the second half of 2010. Due to the higher debt level resulting from the Millipore acquisition, the two rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s adjusted their ratings. Standard & Poor’s issued a rating of BBB+ with a stable outlook on March 2, 2010 (previously: A-) and Moody’s adjusted its rating on July 16, 2010, from A3 before the acquisition to Baa2 (stable outlook). In 2009, we started covering the pension provisions of Merck KGaA with financial assets on a long-term basis. This long-term approach will be expanded continuously. As of December 31, 2010, EUR 217 million was disclosed separately as a non-current financial asset.
As of December 31, 2010, the Crop BioScience business was disclosed as assets and liabilities held for sale pursuant to the announcement of the planned sale of this business to Novozymes A/S, Denmark. The Théramex Group was deconsolidated at the end of December. The agreed purchase price of around EUR 270 million was recognized as a receivable in 2010.
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