Merck KGaA aims for 2016 earnings growth thanks to takeover

By Ludwig Burger DARMSTADT, Germany (Reuters) - German drugs and chemicals maker Merck KGaA expects adjusted core earnings to increase more than 10 percent this year, banking that additional profit from a takeover of lab supplies maker Sigma-Aldrich will offset higher expenses for drug development. The $17 billion (12 billion pound) Sigma-Aldrich deal, wrapped up in November, made Merck's Life Science division the world's second-largest supplier of substances and devices for biotech labs and dru