Maintaining Identity after Acquisition: What's Next for Lek Pharmaceuticals?

Sometimes, friendly acquisitions feel more like friendly fire. After all, a job lost is a job lost. Such was Lek Pharmaceuticals' concern over its recent sale to a larger interest. Based in Slovenia, the home-grown industry feared losses of employment, identity, and creative freedom. Lek employed people in 20 countries, so even the slightest change would have loud repercussions. But Lek's strategic planning director was charged with just that: change. How was he to conduct this transition? And wasn't there a pill for this? Excerpt UVA-OB-0819 Maintaining Identity after Acquisition: What's next for Lek Pharmaceuticals? Gorazd Hladnik, managing director of Strategic Planning at Lek Pharmaceuticals, was pleasantly surprised by what he saw. The Q2 sales figures for FY2003 were better than he had predicted. It had been just over six months since Lek exploded onto the U.S. generic pharmaceuticals market with their introduction of co-amoxiclav, a highly patented antibiotic used in the treatment of broad-spectrum bacterial infections. Sales at this stage clearly exceeded expectations. Despite Lek's recent performance, Hladnik was concerned. Lek had built its success on a clear vision and creative employees, most of whom had spent their entire careers working for the company. Now that they were part of a larger pharmaceutical giant, it was unclear in the long run how the recent acquisition by Novartis would affect Lek's people, culture, and competitiveness in the market. Hladnik wondered if or how Lek would change. He didn't want to lose those qualities that made Lek great. Yet as the sales figures demonstrated, being acquired had its benefits. While his question was simple—What now?—his answer was not. Lek Pharmaceuticals . . .