Parke-Davis To Shut Down Mumbai Office Post-Merger

Parke-Davis India will shut down its corporate office in Mumbai following its merger with Pfizer India.

The merger is expected to complete by the end of November 2002. The timing of the merger completion, which will create a pharma giant in India with sales of over Rs 700 crore, is likely to be announced at the annual general meeting in August, an official spokesperson of Pfizer said.

The merger, which will be effective December 1, 2001, will see a single balance sheet for the two entities from next year.

The company will transfer its staff at the corporate office of Parke-Davis to Pfizer's facilities in the metro. Pfizer India has is streamlining its management at the merged entity, the spokesperson said.

 

Pfizer has already cut around 500 staff through a voluntary retirement scheme as a prelude to the ongoing merger. The VRS cost the company around Rs 50 crore. The successful VRS has helped Pfizer India bring down the number of staff to around 2,000.

The boards of Pfizer India and Parke-Davis India have recently approved a swap ratio of 9:4, making the combined entity the fourth largest drug firm in terms of market share. The $32 billion pharma major Pfizer Inc will hold 40 per cent of the merged entity.

The new entity has a complimentary product portfolio that will allow the company leverage its resources. A new performance management system has been rolled out for the entity to increase the productivity of field force that stands at around 1,200.

As part of the merger, a number of key functional areas including distribution, integration and network rationalisation, order processing, infotech network, finance and treasury management systems, employee transition programmes and human resource policies.