Pharma sees more post-M&A rebrands than other industries—and it does them better, too

To rebrand or not? It’s a big question for pharma companies before and after acquisitions—and one answered with "yes" more often than in other industries. Pharma, in fact, was the most prolific rebrander in Brand Finance’s recent research assessing the value of rebrands across 25 industries. It's also one of the most successful, with rebrands in pharma generating average returns of 13.8%, according to Brand Finance calculations. The main reason? Most acquired pharma brands are weaker than the acquiring ones, the study found. Pharma rebranded 31% of the companies acquired in deals during the five-year study period beginning Jan. 2014 and ending Dec. 2018. That figure was just ahead of the healthcare (30%), telecom (29%) and oil and gas (25%) industries. The study assessed all deals valued at $500 million or more.