Merck Appoints Udit Batra to Head Combined Life Science Business
Udit Batra has been CEO and President of Merck Millipore since 2014
Merck announced that Udit Batra, currently CEO and President of Merck Millipore, has been appointed to lead the combined life science business of Merck Millipore and Sigma-Aldrich once the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich has been successfully completed.
Udit Batra
The planned $ 17 billion transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, which the company expects to have completed in mid-2015. Until then, Merck Millipore and Sigma-Aldrich will continue to operate as separate companies with Udit Batra and Rakesh Sachdev, President and CEO of Sigma-Aldrich, running both organizations independently. Rakesh Sachdev will serve in an advisory capacity, as needed, to ensure a smooth transition.
“Today’s appointment marks another important step in the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich as it provides stable and strong leadership and continued customer focus during the crucial months of integration planning and beyond,” said Karl-Ludwig Kley, Chairman of the Executive Board of Merck. “Udit is a proven leader who has demonstrated his ability to work successfully with his leadership team to guide large organizations, drive performance and deliver to our customers. I also want to express my gratitude to the Sigma-Aldrich employees for building the organization into a leading global life science tools company and to Rakesh, personally, for providing excellent leadership to the Sigma-Aldrich organization, both culturally and as demonstrated by the company’s strong performance.”
Udit Batra, 44, has served as CEO and President of Merck’s life science business Merck Millipore since March 2014. He joined Merck in 2011 to head the Group’s Consumer Health business. Prior to that, Udit Batra worked at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, where he was head of Global Public Health and Market Access. He served in a range of executive management positions at Novartis, including global Head of Corporate Strategy and Country President for the Pharma Business in Australia.
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