I just received this news a few minutes ago: US pharmaceutical giants Merck and Schering-Plough announced their merger early Monday in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at 41.1 billion dollars.

In reading the specifics, available in this news item, it sounds like a very big deal. The combined companies will have a cash and investments balance of about $8 billion. As a merged entity, they expect to save about $3.5 billion a year starting in 2011. But of chief interest to me is their strategy going forward for growth. Happily, Merck Chairman Richard Clark, who will head the combined companies, answered my question:

“The combined company will benefit from a formidable research and development pipeline, a significantly broader portfolio of medicines and an expanded presence in key international markets, particularly in high-growth emerging markets.”

Emphasizing this emerging market strategy even further, the report goes on to say: …the merger will dramatically accelerate Merck’s own international growth efforts, including the company’s goal of reaching top five market share in targeted emerging markets, company officials said… They pointed out that the combined company will have a more geographically diverse mix of business and is expected to generate more than 50 percent of its revenue outside the United States.

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