Pantarhei to Bid for Merck's Organon Unit

Dutch bioscience company Pantarhei intends to bid for the bulk of U.S. company Merck's Netherlands-based bioscience research unit Organon, the Dutch Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday.

Pantarhei Bioscience director Herjan Coeling Bennink, told the paper that Pantarhie can make the proposal as a result of backing from international private equity investors.

No financial details were provided. The private equity investors were not named either.

Merck said in September it had postponed the closure of Organon's R&D activities in the Netherlands while it negotiated on potential alternatives, including a sale.

The initial deadline for a deal of Dec. 31 was later pushed back to Feb. 15.

A spokeswoman for Merck in the Netherlands declined to comment.

Pantarhei, whose chief executive Coelingh Bennink was a former Organon executive, was not immediately available for comment.