The Wall Street Journal has sized up Sanofi's chances for completing a Genzyme deal and concluded that this biotech deal has legs. And the WSJ goes on to speculate that if the Big Pharma temptress can close the transaction we could be at the end of the line for big M&A deals.
"At the very least, it ought to be the last big deal for a long while, if rationality prevails," noted the business newspaper. And why is that? Because the three Big Biotech players that first come to mind as takeover targets all come with some heavy baggage.
Case No. 1: Celgene. Big even by Genzyme standards, the company relies heavily on one drug, Revlimid, which faces questions about its IP status. Potential buyers: Pfizer and GSK. Case No. 2: Allergan, which has a high valuation despite slow growth. Case No. 3: Biogen Idec, which is valued at $13.5 billion but faces some big new competitors to its MS franchise.
One deal the Journal would smile on is a bid for Shire, which it sees as a solid performer with a bright future.
- here's the story from the Wall Street Journal