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Long takeover battle looms
By Caroline Jacobs |
December 14, 2010, Tuesday
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Sanofi-Aventis extended its US$18.5 billion cash offer for United States biotech group Genzyme until January 21 and left open the option to prolong it further, a sign the French drug maker is ready for a long battle.
Nearly 1 percent of Genzyme shareholders had tendered their shares to Sanofi's US$69-a-share offer before an initial deadline expired last Friday, Sanofi said in a statement yesterday.
Sanofi's efforts to buy Genzyme could continue until May, when the US firm holds its annual shareholder meeting, giving Sanofi a chance to try to overturn Genzyme's board.
Long takeover battles are not uncommon. US industrial gases company Air Products has been trying to buy Airgas since February, while in the drug sector, it took about eight months before Roche could buy the rest of Genentech it did not already own.
At any rate, analysts widely expect Sanofi can only get to purchase Genzyme if it improves its current offer. A Reuters poll in August suggested US$78 a share could succeed.
"It's a failure for Sanofi with regard to the number of shares tendered," said Jean-Jacques Le Fur, analyst at Oddo Securities. "Sanofi will need to pay up."
Nearly 1 percent of Genzyme shareholders had tendered their shares to Sanofi's US$69-a-share offer before an initial deadline expired last Friday, Sanofi said in a statement yesterday.
Sanofi's efforts to buy Genzyme could continue until May, when the US firm holds its annual shareholder meeting, giving Sanofi a chance to try to overturn Genzyme's board.
Long takeover battles are not uncommon. US industrial gases company Air Products has been trying to buy Airgas since February, while in the drug sector, it took about eight months before Roche could buy the rest of Genentech it did not already own.
At any rate, analysts widely expect Sanofi can only get to purchase Genzyme if it improves its current offer. A Reuters poll in August suggested US$78 a share could succeed.
"It's a failure for Sanofi with regard to the number of shares tendered," said Jean-Jacques Le Fur, analyst at Oddo Securities. "Sanofi will need to pay up."
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