Merck Animal Health to acquire TARGAN
- Signed a definitive agreement to acquire TARGAN for an undisclosed purchase price.
- Transaction expected to close in third quarter 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary conditions.
- WingScan automated gender-identification system images and sorts up to 160,000 chicks per hour using real-time feather analysis.
- Includes a high-speed precision ocular spray platform for delivering respiratory and coccidiosis vaccines to day‑old chicks; Merck had invested in TARGAN since 2017.
Transaction
Merck Animal Health has signed a definitive agreement to acquire TARGAN for an undisclosed price. The proposed acquisition is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2026, subject to approvals from applicable regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions.
Assets and capabilities
TARGAN’s key technologies include WingScan, an automated, vision-based gender identification and sorting system that captures high-resolution images of each chick’s feathers and analyses them in real time, processing up to 160,000 chicks per hour and scalable to any hatchery size. The deal also brings a high-speed precision ocular spray technology designed to administer respiratory and coccidiosis vaccines to day-old chicks.
Strategic rationale
Merck Animal Health says the biodevice technologies complement and accelerate its biopharmaceutical presence in poultry, broaden its commercial poultry portfolio and add device development capabilities that could be applied across species. Merck had been an investor in TARGAN since 2017 and was one of its largest shareholders.
Management comments
TARGAN Founder and CEO Ramin Karimpour stated the acquisition will allow access to Merck Animal Health’s resources and infrastructure to deploy TARGAN’s biodevice technology alongside Merck’s poultry vaccine portfolio.
Source: Merck
