October 27, 2009

FD Animal Health gets new ownership

By BILL SHEA Messenger staff writer

Boehringer Ingelheim has completed its purchase of Fort Dodge Animal Health, and some of the company's executives visited the city Monday to greet local employees.

About 900 workers, most of them in Fort Dodge, are now employees of the German company following a set of transactions that also involved Wyeth and Pfizer Inc.

''This is sort of Day 1 for us,'' said Amy Kunkel, a spokeswoman for Boehringer Ingelheim.

She said that George Heidgerken, president and chief operating officer of Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc., visited Fort Dodge. He was accompanied by several other company leaders.

Eventually, Kunkel said, the name of the Fort Dodge operations will be switched to that of the new owner.

That company acquired both the Riverside plant on Riverside Drive and the main plant at 800 Fifth St. N.W.

''We've had some very positive conversations with all of the staff at BI that are part of their integration team,'' Mayor Terry Lutz said. ''I think we can look at it as some potential real opportunities for our city. I think our community needs to embrace them as a new neighbor.''

''We look forward to working with them to ensure their long-term success,'' he added.

Dennis Plautz, the city's director of business affairs and community growth, said he expects a ''relatively seamless integration'' of the two companies.

By buying Fort Dodge Animal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim expanded its product lines for dogs, cats and cattle, according to Plautz.

''In working with the Federal Trade Commission and BI, we've found everyone to be very cooperative and optimistic about the future,'' he said.

The chain of events that brought Boehringer Ingelheim to Fort Dodge began in January. That's when Pfizer Inc. announced its plan to buy Wyeth, the parent company of Fort Dodge Animal Health, for $68 billion.

That deal required Federal Trade Commission approval. To get that, Pfizer Inc. had to unload some of its veterinary medicine capabilities.

Pfizer Inc. decided to keep a handful of Fort Dodge Animal Health products, then sell the rest, along with some facilities to Boehringer Ingelheim. The terms of that deal have not been disclosed.

''Boehringer Ingelheim and Fort Dodge share a strong commitment to innovation and this will continue to be the imperative basis of all our activities as we move forward,'' Boehringer Ingelheim board member Hubertus von Baumbach said in a written statement.

''With the closing of this deal, our attention now turns to ensuring a seamless integration of the highly committed teams of people as well as the transition of the product portfolio,'' he added. ''We aim to jointly execute a robust business strategy that ensures the continued growth of our animal health business in the U.S. and globally by continuously providing innovation to our customers.''