Nycomed said to consider raising its offer to Solvay drug unit
Nycomed A/S may raise its offer for Solvay SA's drugs unit after its bid fell short of the owner's $7.35 billion target, according to people familiar with the situation.
Nycomed offered 4 billion euros to 4.5 billion euros for the unit, said the people, who declined to be identified as the negotiations aren't public. U.S. drug and device maker Libertyville Township-based Abbott Laboratories and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. of Japan, which has local operations in Deerfield, are also interested in the unit, the people said.
Solvay plans to hold a board meeting today to weigh new offers for its pharmaceutical unit, which makes the TriCor cholesterol pill, and could announce an agreement as soon as next week, one of the people said. The company may still opt to sell shares in the unit rather than sell it, the person added.
Nycomed, whose owners include Nordic Capital and a buyout unit of Credit Suisse Group AG, is expanding as it prepares for an initial public offering in 2011, a person familiar with the situation said on Sept. 11. Solvay may divest its drug division, responsible for 28 percent of last year's sales, to focus on its chemicals and plastics businesses.
Solvay spokesman Erik De Leye and Nycomed spokeswoman Beatrix Benz both declined to comment. Abbott spokesman Scott Stoffel said in a telephone interview that his company doesn't comment on "marketplace rumors." Officials at Takeda weren't immediately available to comment.
Combining Solvay with Nycomed would create a company with drugs to treat heart, gastrointestinal and central nervous- system diseases, with operations in Europe and emerging markets. Combined, the firms would have sales of about 6 billion euros, making them Europe's eighth-biggest drugmaker.
Abbott is a co-promoter of TriCor, which generated 511 million euros in sales for Solvay in 2008, and $1.34 billion for Abbott.
Abbott's interest in Solvay would mark a change in course. Abbott's chief financial officer, Thomas Freyman, said in July the company wasn't interested in purchasing drugs from Solvay. Abbott Chief Executive Officer Miles White has been buying medical devices and eye products to reduce the company's reliance on medicines.
UCB SA, which like Solvay is based in Brussels, may also consider an offer for the Solvay business, according to the Wall Street Journal. UCB spokeswoman Cindy Maas declined to comment.
Solvay, which introduced one of the first modern antidepressants in 1983, ranks as the world's biggest producer of soda ash, used to make glass and modify the acidity of shampoos.
The company gets much of its annual revenue from the automotive and construction industries, which are among the hardest hit by the recession. TriCor, known chemically as fenofibrate, is used to reduce triglycerides and adjust cholesterol levels.