The German pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck Group received today the 14th annual IMD - Lombard Odier Global Family Business Award on the occasion of the 20th Summit of the Family Business Network International (FBN-I) in Amsterdam.

Created in 1996, this Award is seen by many as the leading worldwide distinction that recognizes top performing family businesses that successfully blend family and business interests and make a contribution to the community. The experts attributing the Award examine the financial, strategic and ethical aspects of the company with a careful consideration of the people and the values behind the business.

Thierry Lombard, Managing Partner of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie, a seventh generation family firm of private bankers, comments: “With this Award, we wish to highlight the important economic contribution of family businesses to the global economy, recognize outstanding companies which will provide best practices and inspiration to their peers, and promote family business by turning the spotlight on the exceptional high standards they are capable of.”

The Merck Group impressed the Jury of the IMD - Lombard Odier Global Family Business Award with four main factors:

• the duration of its family’s ownership – 341 years and 12 generations – and the ability to successfully overcome virtually all potential threats by using the opportunities of change
• its courage and pioneering spirit translated into successful innovation management
• its strong family values and focus on the younger generation with bonding activities to establish an owner identity as well as education processes to become responsible shareholders
• and the separation of the spheres of influence and governance between operating responsibility outside the family and supervisory bodies which are family-controlled

About the winner, IMD President John Wells stated: “Merck, the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical enterprise, is an extraordinary example of long-term leadership which has adapted to geopolitical changes and a competitive global environment over 341 years and 12 generations. Their harmonious balance of family values, exemplary governance and business performance drives their long-term success.”

“Business comes first – the Merck family members, totalling today 217 members representing the 10th, 11th and 12th generations, see their role as that of trustee with a clear objective to pass the Group to the next generation enriched and enlarged,” said Chairman of the Family Board Jon Baumhauer, part of the 11th generation himself.

The Award Trophy is crafted in crystal in the form of a tree – the family business symbol. It is generously donated by the Scheufele family from Chopard, another globally successful family enterprise, and was manufactured in the Chopard workshops.