HERTFORDSHIRE, England — Mylan N.V. plans to acquire Sweden-based pharmaceuticals manufacturer Meda AB in a deal valued at $9.9 billion, including debt.

Mylan said late Wednesday that the offer to Meda includes cash and Mylan shares, with the equity portion valued at $7.2 billion.

Executives from both companies noted that a Mylan-Meda combination would create a pharmaceutical leader with a broad portfolio of branded and generic drugs and over-the-counter medicines plus a balanced global footprint with significant scale in key geographic markets, especially the United States and Europe.

“Our acquisition of Meda will allow us to accelerate and deliver on the clear and compelling vision and strategy we have continuously communicated to our shareholders, and once again deliver a transaction that will create significant value. We believe Mylan is uniquely positioned in the global pharmaceutical space today, with very strong fundamentals and a long and successful track record of executing on all previous acquisitions and organic opportunities,” Mylan executive chairman Robert Coury said in a statement.

“Meda is a unique and strategic asset, with a high-quality workforce, which will add to our powerful, diversified and sustainable global platform and provide exciting new opportunities for Mylan, its shareholders and all of our other stakeholders,” he noted.

Mylan said the addition of Meda would give it entry into some attractive, emerging markets, including China, Southeast Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Mexico, in turn complementing Mylan’s presence in India, Brazil and Africa. The companies also have a complementary therapeutic presence, which will create a top global player in respiratory/allergy, and achieve critical mass in dermatology and pain management, offering greater opportunities for growth in those categories, according to Mylan.

“This transaction builds on everything we have put in place around the world, including our recent acquisition of the Abbott non-U.S. developed markets specialty and branded generics business. Meda brings us greater scale, breadth and diversity across products, geographies and sales channels, and together we will have an even stronger global commercial infrastructure. We have been very clear about our commitment to enter the OTC space and continue our expansion in emerging markets and, with this transaction, we will have an approximately $1 billion OTC business at close and gain entry into new growth markets,” commented Mylan chief executive officer Heather Bresch.

“We see exciting opportunities across a number of strategically important categories, particularly allergy/respiratory, given the strength of our combined portfolio, the multitude of exciting launches we will have in the coming years and the commercial strength of our combined business,” Bresch added.

The proposal has been unanimously approved by Mylan’s board of directors and unanimously recommended by Meda’s board. Meda’s two largest shareholders — Stena Sessan Rederi AB and Fidim S.r.l., which respectively own 21% and 9% of Meda’s outstanding shares — have undertaken to accept the offer, subject to certain conditions.

“On behalf of the Meda Board, I am pleased to announce that we recommend to our shareholders to accept Mylan’s offer. We believe that the offer provides excellent value for Meda shareholders, and we share a common vision with Mylan to create a leading pharma player. The transaction will provide critical mass across all commercial channels in Europe, create a leading U.S. specialty business and provide an exciting platform for growth in emerging markets,” stated Peter von Ehrenheim, a member of the Meda board.

Pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter, the companies said.

“Over the course of more than 10 years, I have been privileged to first be a part of, and more recently to lead, Meda. I believe that Meda is an exceptional organization that has continued to go from strength to strength and has a strong and well-defined growth profile going forward,” Meda CEO Jörg-Thomas Dierks commented. “The proposed transaction with Mylan is very compelling from a strategic standpoint, and I believe Meda will be a strong partner for Mylan and will bring additional value to Mylan. The two businesses are highly complementary, and the combined business will benefit from strong therapeutic presence in respiratory/allergy, dermatology and pain and inflammation, as well as enhancing our mass in Europe and U.S. presence.”

The Meda acquisition announcement comes several months after Mylan’s failed $27 billion bid to acquire Dublin, Ireland-based Perrigo Co. plc, a leading maker of store-brand OTC medicines and generic drugs. Perrigo shareholders rejected Mylan’s unsolicited bid in mid-November. Mylan executives said at the time that the company has other options for growth via acquisitions.