To reflect the conclusion of the Merck Group acquisition of VWR in the USA, all Merck Eurolab companies will officially be renamed VWR International as of 1 January 2002.
VWR International is a global leader in laboratory product distribution serving the industrial, pharmaceutical, educational and governmental markets.
The VWR International group is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and generates annual sales of US $2.2 billion.
Operating from 18 countries VWR International employs more than 6,000 people.
The Merck Eurolab operation in the UK will be known as VWR International Ltd. Contact details such as address, phone and fax numbers will remain the same but email addresses will change to 'firstname.surname@uk.vwr.com'.
"The combination of VWR Scientific Products and Merck Eurolab gave us a very solid position from which to start this new venture nearly a year ago," said Walter Zywottek, chairman and CEO of VWR International.
"As a result, 2001 has been a year of sound growth while also being a year of organisational change to truly create a single, global company.
Understandably, many of our European operations have continued to use their pre-VWR names to maintain familiarity for their regional and local customer bases. But we think the marketplace is now ready for our organisation to trade as a single brand - VWR International," Zywottek said. According to Zywottek, this unified brand will not only add strength to operations, but it is also another demonstration of Merck's commitment to take its distribution business public.
