Sanofi-Aventis was formed through the friendly acquisition of Aventis SA by Sanofi-Synthélabo in 2004. To finance the 54.5 billion euro acquisition, Sanofi-Aventis raised 16 billion euros in equity and obtained a 38.5 billion euro credit facility from various banks. The credit facility was divided into short, medium, and long-term tranches with maturity dates of 9 months, 2 years 9 months, and 4 years 9 months respectively. This allowed Sanofi-Aventis to finance the acquisition using both short and medium-term financing. After the acquisition, Sanofi-Aventis saw increased sales, R&D expenditures,