Biennel understood the viewpoints of these analysts because Bosco history had been bleak. In August 2005 the company had been forced to withdraw its major cholesterol-lowering drug from the market after it was linked to more than 220 deaths. Now, after several years of restructuring and on the heels of the Winthrough merger, the Zeta acquisition was the biggest in Bosco's 110-year his- tory. The integration issues were not trivial, as the combined entity would have more than 40,000 employees in more than 100 countries. (See Exhibit 1 for both firms' financials.)