Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]

Prior to the Separation, Merck managed the impact of foreign exchange rate movements on its affiliates’ earnings, cash flows and fair values of assets and liabilities through operational means and through the use of various financial instruments, including derivative instruments. Merck established revenue hedging and balance sheet risk management programs that the Company participated in to protect against the volatility of future foreign currency cash flows and changes in fair value caused by volatility in exchange rates. Accordingly, the Consolidated Statement of Income includes the impact of Merck’s derivative financial instruments prior to the Separation that is deemed to be associated with the Company’s operations and has been allocated to the Company utilizing a proportional allocation method:


($ in millions)	2021		2020		2019
Allocated net (gains) loss in Sales	$	56	$	3	$	(58)
Net (gains) loss in Other (income) expense, net(1)	32		48		3
Foreign exchange (gains) loss in Other (income) expense, net(1)	(28)		(4)		70

(1)Includes net gains and losses and foreign exchange gains and losses allocated for the period prior to the Separation, as well as actual net gains and losses and foreign exchange gains and losses post-Separation.

Foreign Currency Risk Management

Periods Post Separation

In June 2021, the Company established a balance sheet risk management and a net investment hedging program to mitigate against volatility of changes in foreign exchange rates.

The Company uses a balance sheet risk management program to mitigate the exposure of net monetary assets of its subsidiaries that are denominated in a currency other than a subsidiary’s functional currency from the effects of volatility in foreign exchange. In these instances, Organon principally utilizes forward exchange contracts to offset the effects of exchange on exposures denominated in developed country currencies, primarily the euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen. For exposures in developing country currencies, the Company enters into forward contracts to partially offset the effects of exchange on exposures when it is deemed economical to do so based on a cost-benefit analysis that considers the magnitude of the exposure, the volatility of the exchange rate and the cost of the hedging instrument.

Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of a given subsidiary are remeasured at spot rates in effect on the balance sheet date with the effects of changes in spot rates reported in Other (income) expense, net. The forward contracts are not designated as hedges and are marked to market through Other (income) expense, net. Accordingly, fair value changes in the forward contracts help mitigate the changes in the value of the remeasured assets and liabilities attributable to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, except to the extent of the spot-forward differences. These differences are not significant due to the short-term nature of the contracts, which typically have average maturities at inception of less than one year. As of December 31, 2021, the fair value of these contracts was recorded as an asset of $19 million in Other current assets and a liability of $5 million in Accrued and other current liabilities. The notional amount of forward contracts was $2.1 billion as of December 31, 2021. The cash flows from these contracts are reported as operating activities in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.

Foreign exchange risk is also managed through the use of economic hedges on foreign currency debt (see Note 11). In each quarter subsequent to the Separation, €1.75 billion in the aggregate of both the euro-denominated term loan (€750 million) and of the 2.875% euro-denominated secured notes (€1.25 billion) has been designated and is effective as an economic hedge of the net investment in euro-denominated subsidiaries. As a result, $162 million of foreign currency gains due to spot rate fluctuations on the euro-denominated debt instruments are included in foreign currency translation adjustments in Other Comprehensive Income for 2021.

Concentrations of Credit Risk

Historically, the Company’s operations formed part of Merck’s monitoring of concentrations of credit risk associated with corporate and government issuers of securities and financial institutions with which Merck conducted business. Credit exposure limits were established to limit a concentration with any single issuer or institution.

The majority of the Company’s accounts receivable arise from product sales in the United States, Europe and China and are primarily due from drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, government agencies, managed health care providers and pharmacy benefit managers. The Company’s customers with the largest accounts receivable balances are Curascript Specialty Distribution, McKesson Corporation and Amerisource Bergen Corporation which, represented, in aggregate, approximately 20% of total gross account receivable at December 31, 2021. Bad debts have been minimal. The Company does not normally require collateral or other security to support credit sales.

Merck had established accounts receivable factoring agreements with financial institutions in certain countries to sell accounts receivable. In connection with the Separation, Merck conveyed these agreements to Organon. Under these agreements, Organon factored $87 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 and Merck factored $227 million of accounts receivable related to the Company in the fourth quarter of 2020, which reduced outstanding accounts receivable. The cash received from the financial institutions is reported within operating activities in the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows.