French drugmaker Sanofi and German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim have completed their business swap, which sees Sanofi take Boehringer’s consumer healthcare (CHC) business in exchange for its own Merial animal health division.

The deal, first announced in December 2015, closed on Jan. 1, 2017 in most markets. The acquisition of Merial in Mexico and the Merial and the CHC swap in India have been delayed pending receipt of certain regulatory approvals, but both are expected to close early in 2017.

The European Commission cleared the transaction in November 2016 after Boehringer agreed to sell some of Merial’s vaccines and pharmaceuticals, allaying the regulator’s concerns about reduced competition and the possibility of higher prices. The products to be divested include vaccines Circovac, Progressis, Parvovax, Parvovurax and Mucossifa and pharmaceuticals Ketofen, Wellicox, Allevinix, Genixine and the injectable and paste versions of Equioxx.

Sanofi’s CEO, Olivier Brandicourt, said the integration of Boehringer’s CHC assets allows the Paris-based group to enhance its positions in core strategic categories in a promising market.

Hubertus von Baumbach, chairman of the board of managing directors at Boehringer Ingelheim, said the combined strength of the two organizations will improve the German firm’s competitiveness in the strategically important animal health business.

The companies said last June that the $20 billion mutually beneficial swap will lay the foundation for both to reach the size and scale required in two highly attractive businesses. Lyon and Toulouse in France will be key operational centers of Boehringer’s animal health business, while Germany will be an important part of Sanofi’s CHC operations, focusing on gastrointestinal and cough & cold categories in particular.