Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc., a provider of animal health products, will relocate its North America and U.S. Animal Health headquarters now in St. Joseph, Mo. to Duluth. The move comes as the company, which makes vaccines and pharmaceuticals for animals, completes an asset swap transaction with Sanofi’s animal health business, Merial, already located in Duluth.

Following closing, the company’s U.S. Animal Health leadership team will headquarter at the existing Merial facility, 3239 Satellite Boulevard in Duluth. The St. Joseph site will remain open and operate as the largest animal health employer in the KC Animal Health Corridor.

The transaction to combine Merial and Boehringer Ingelheim’s parasiticides, vaccines and pharmaceutical products is expected to close in January, and remains subject to approval by all regulatory authorities in different countries including by the Federal Trade Commission.