IMS Health and Quintiles in $17.6bn Merger

IMS Health and healthcare consultancy Quintiles are planning to merge in an all-stock transaction which will value the combined company - Quintiles IMS Holdings - at $17.6 billion. Combined 2015 revenue for the two firms was around $7.2 billion.

The deal will create one of the world's largest portfolios of healthcare information, therapeutic, domain, regulatory and commercial analytic expertise, as well as proprietary technology applications. IMS Health's information solutions will be combined with Quintiles' product development skills, and the business will provide a portfolio of anonymous patient records, technology-enabled data collection and observational research experts to address healthcare issues. The firms say they expect annual cost savings of $100m by the end of year three.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, IMS Health shareholders will receive a ratio of 0.384 shares of Quintiles common stock for each IMS share. Upon completion of the merger, IMS shareholders will own c. 51.4% of the combined company's shares, and Quintiles shareholders around 48.6%.

The combined firm will have headquarters in Danbury, CT and Research Triangle Park, NC. Ari Bousbib, Chairman and CEO of IMS Health, will take the same role in the merged organization, while Tom Pike, CEO of Quintiles, will become Vice Chairman. The new Board of Directors will be comprised of six directors appointed by the Quintiles Board and six appointed by IMS, with the lead director being Dennis Gillings.

Bousbib comments: 'This powerful combination brings together leading technology and analytics with deep scientific expertise delivered on a global scale by our 50,000 immensely talented professionals in more than 100 markets. Our combined business will accelerate growth, yield greater operating efficiencies and provide more flexibility for future expansion'.

Web sites: www.imshealth.com and www.quintiles.com .