How the Consolidated Federal Suit Challenging the Reverse-Merger Will Likely Proceed. . . .

Okay — I earlier promised I’d cover this one closely — and here is the first big delivery on that promise: Judge Cavanaugh signed an order today, setting out the schedule upon which — it is believed — the plaintiffs (including at least five large institutional investors) will seek, among other things, a preliminary injunction to delay the proposed reverse merger. This is in what was the Landesbank Berlin Investment GmBH suit (Case No. 09-1099, along with others) — now called In Re Merck/Schering-Plough Merger Litigation (U.S. Dist. Ct., NJ).

Click the image at right, of the relevant pages of Judge Cavanaugh’s order, to see what comes next, in June and July. Look for some volatility in Schering-Plough’s NYSE common stock trading price, on July 28, 2009 — as well as Merck’s, potentially — if the hearing scheduled for that day (highlighted in yellow) actually goes forward. No doubt reports of the “Kentucky windage” from inside the court, will arrive here — either by my live-blogging from the court, or by financial reporters, via the traditional news-wires.

. . . .A Hearing on plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction shall be held on July 28, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. EDT. . .

Note also that, as of yesterday (and continuing, on a rolling basis through 5 pm EDT next Wednesday), the plaintiff-institutional investors should have already begun receiving internal documents from Merck, and Schering-Plough — related to the process employed, and alternatives considered, in order to reach the reverse-merger agreement.

Stay tuned. I’ll continue to cover all material developments, right here.

The “Daily Deal” Dishes SCH-Merck Dirt. . . .

The “Daily Deal” was in San Francisco — and picked this up:

. . . .While Wyeth research chief Mikael Dolsten talked up his firm’s pipeline and tried his best Tuesday morning to avoid any mention of Pfizer Inc., another megamerger participant — Merck & Co. chief licensing officer Barbara Yanni, a fixture at industry partnering conferences — had plenty to say about her firm’s pending $41 billion takeover of Schering-Plough Corporation. She posted slides of the two firms’ products, pipelines, and reminded the audience of Merck’s wonderful reasons for the deal. She even joked about having to post not one but two pages of forward-looking statements. When you’re the buyer, it’s easier to speak freely, perhaps. Then again, Merck claims it’s not really the buyer — nudge, nudge, wink, wink — in order to avoid losing (to Johnson & Johnson) Schering’s shared rights to a rheumatoid arthritis drug over change-of-control issues. . . .

Heh. We shall see.