Despite reports that Pfizer ($PFE) is now the front-runner to snap up cancer biotech Medivation ($MDVN), its original suitor Sanofi ($SNY) is confident that its low ball $9.3 billion offer will be accepted after filing under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.
This move, which happens when a company believes it is about to subsume another company, shows Sanofi’s bullishness in getting the deal done--despite the fact that it was roundly rejected by Medivation just weeks’ ago and comes amid swirling rumors that it has opened talks with Pfizer.
Sanofi has in the past week hinted at both potentially extending its offer--but also going hostile if the Xtandi producer’s board doesn’t play ball.
In a brief statement, the French drugmaker--which is looking to beef up its relatively weak and until recently half abandoned oncology pipeline--said: “As announced on April 28, 2016, Sanofi proposed to acquire Medivation for $52.50 per share, representing an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $9.3 billion”--indicating it is not yet willing to budge on price.
Analysts have said the biotech could fetch as much as $70 a share, with Novartis ($NVS), AstraZeneca ($AZN) and Amgen ($AMGN) also all said to be circling.
- check out Sanofi’s filing