Clifford Chance advised Merck KGaA and its U.S. finance subsidiary EMD Finance LLC in connection with the debut yankee bond issuance in an aggregate of USD 4 billion in investment grade notes consisting of a USD 250 million floating rate tranche due in 2017, a USD 400 million 1.700% fixed rate tranche due in 2018, a USD 750 million 2.400% fixed rate tranche due in 2020, a USD 1,000 million 2.950% fixed rate tranche due in 2022 and a USD 1,600 million 3.250% fixed rate tranche due in 2025.

The joint lead banks advising Merck KGaA on the transaction were Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Bayerische Landesbank, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, DZ BANK, Goldman Sachs, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, SOCIETE GENERALE and UniCredit.

The transaction involved the offering and placement of notes, principally to U.S. investors, by a Delaware finance subsidiary of Merck KGaA as part of Merck's refinancing efforts in connection with the acquisition of Sigma-Aldrich Corporation.

The Clifford Chance team consisted of Partners Dr. George Hacket and Sebastian Maerker as well as Counsel Barbora Moring, Senior Associate Dr. Axel Wittmann, Associates Ryan Dunmire and Sarah Steece (all Banking & Capital Markets, Frankfurt) supported by Partners Uwe Schimmelschmidt (Tax, Frankfurt) and Avrohom Gelber (Tax, New York), Counsel Olaf Mertgen (Tax, Frankfurt), Senior Associate Maria Heil (Healthcare, Düsseldorf) and Associate Eric Naftel (Tax, New York).