Bayer Australia Ltd has strengthened its position in the Animal Health market through the successful merger with Bomac’s Australian business.
The joining of the two companies is part of a wider merger involving Bayer’s New Zealand operations and Bomac in New Zealand.
Bomac was New Zealand’s largest privately owned animal health company with offices on both sides of the Tasman.
Bayer Animal Health country manager for ANZ Udo Klein said the two companies are now fully merged in Australia and presenting “one face to the customer.”
“We’re delighted with how well and how efficiently the merger has gone here in Australia, but also in New Zealand too. Because our product portfolios were complementary, with little overlap, we have been able to keep redundancies to only a handful.
“Overall our Australian Animal Health operations have grown to include about 275 products and 90 employees working in both the companion animal and farm animal areas.
“These are exciting times for Bayer in Australia and we look forward to continued growth in the Animal Health area.”
Klein said key to Bayer’s growth plans is the establishment of a new Centre for Innovation and Development (CID) at Bomac’s manufacturing site in Auckland.
“One of the reasons Bayer acquired Bomac is the company’s innovation track record. In recent years, Bomac averaged 20 new product registrations a year which is phenomenal.
“We have plans to invest more into new products not only for the Australian and New Zealand markets, but the entire southern hemisphere.”
These product areas include livestock health, for example, the treatment of mastitis in dairy cows, sheep and cattle parasiticides, bovine reproduction and new swine products aimed at markets in the southern hemisphere.
As part of the merger, former Bomac employees have begun relocating from their previous Sydney office in Hornsby to Bayer’s head office a short distance away in Pymble.
The merger of the two companies continues in New Zealand and will be fully completed by the end of the year.